Jamboree Jambalaya
by Freedom Fighter
Summary: The Fireside Girls are in Washington DC to participate in the Jamboree! There's just one problem. Isabella's not with them. She missed the plane, and now she has to find a way to the Jam before their dreams of becoming Troop of the Year go up in flames! Part of the "Fireside Diaries" series; 4th feature; takes place after Season 2.
1. Prologue & Chapter 1

**"Jamboree Jambalaya"  
A "Fireside Diaries" Feature**  
**Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

Welcome to the fourth feature of the "Fireside Diaries" series, after "Phineas is Mine!," "My Salty Sweetwater," and "I'm Your Next Class President!" This is "Jamboree Jambalaya." The second season of the "Fireside Diaries" built up to this feature, which is a 12-chapter story that's going to be delivered to you guys over the course of three weeks, in four chapter increments!

Although I tried to make this accessible to any _Phineas and Ferb_ fan who wants to read this, obviously if you have not read any of the "Fireside Diaries" to this point, there are going to be some characters and a few callbacks to the series that may be confusing to newcomers. Having read the series to this point (to the end of Season 2) is recommended.

To those of you who do follow the series, this feature will use the format of the other features and not of the series. By that, I mean you won't see the normal narration at the beginning and end of parts, as given by Isabella or one of the other girls, as per usual. Anyone who keeps track of entry numbers, though, let the record state that this entire story is numbered as Entry #411.

That being said, I hope you all enjoy! Today's installment will be the prologue and the first four chapters (with the Prologue and Chapter 1 in this entry).

**Disclaimer:** The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney. All others belong to me.

* * *

**Prologue**

_The Fireside Girls World Jamboree Jambalaya!_

_Known nowadays by most people as 'The Jam,' scores and scores of Fireside Girl troops from all across the United States, as well as the world, gather to mingle with their fellow sisters, share stories about their many patch-collecting adventures, as well as compete for numerous honors._

_The biggest honor of them is Troop of the Year. Given out every year since the first Jamboree 33 years ago, the Troop of the Year is given to the troop who best exemplifies the spirit, principles, and traditions of the Fireside Girl organization, and whose members possess both the smarts and the athletic talents to succeed in their present and future lives._

_At last year's Jam, Troop of the Year was awarded to Troop 28933 after delivering a flawless singing performance in the final event of the festival. Unfortunately, they were later stripped of the title after an appeal was made by Troop 46231, specifically from their leader, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. The judges for the event failed to cite Troop 28933 for using visual aids, which was against the rules. The violation would have disqualified the troop from that event, which in turn would have cost them the Troop of the Year award. Despite the appeal, though, it was decided because it came after the end of the Jam, that the award would be vacated rather than given to Troop 46231, who finished second._

_The news would be worse for Troop 28933. The leadership of Troop 46231 was charged with not only self-knowingly violated the rules, but also not self-reporting said violation. As a result, then-leader Sarah Anderson was kicked out of the Fireside Girls. In protest, the rest of the troop quit soon afterward, with the exception of one member…_

_Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry._

_Elizabeth quickly enlisted the help of some of her closest friends to join the troop and keep its membership above the minimum membership requirement, then went to work fixing the troop's reputation. Even if that meant they had to butt heads with a few rival troops. Especially Troop 46231, who was headquartered less than 40 miles away._

_Because of the incident, the two troops crossed paths often. Some tussles were better than others. But once Elizabeth and her girls proved to Isabella and her troop that they were able to stand on their own, their efforts were rewarded with an all-expenses trip to the Jam._

_Meanwhile, Troop 46231 continued to be one of the crowning jewels of the Fireside Girls. Led happily by their leader, Isabella, the girls of 46231 have earned more patches in the last year than any other troop of their size. She and her girls have represented the organization well, and have done everything that has been asked of them. They are active in the community, they all maintain a high academic standing, and no troop can move cupcakes like them. Their troop is one of the favorites to win Troop of the Year as a result. All they have to do is close the deal._

_And to do that, they first have to get to the Jam…_

* * *

**Chapter One**

The sun was out early on a warm Thursday morning in July. The major roads and highways in and around the Tri-State Area were bumper-to-bumper for the morning rush hour. Somewhere in that mess were many of the members of Fireside Girls Troop 46231, on their way to the airport on the south side of the city. One of them was Ginger Hirano, who was getting dropped off there by her family at that moment.

"Do you have your ticket?" asked Dr. Hirano, her mother, as she pulled her youngest daughter's suitcase out of the trunk.

"Yes, Mom," Ginger said, holding it up.

"Do you promise to stay with the girls at all times?"

"Yes, Mom."

Dr. Hirano pulled the handle out and passed it over to Ginger.

"You're not going to hook up with any unsavory boys, are you?"

"**MOM!**"

Stacy stepped in to come to her sibling's rescue.

"Relax, Mom! This isn't the first time Ginger's gone on a trip halfway across the country by herself. She's a Fireside Girl!"

"I know, I know," her mom said.

She then leaned in and gave Ginger a hug.

"Have a good time, honey."

She headed back to the driver's seat, leaving the sisters alone.

"I know you'll do well. Knock 'em dead!"

The two hugged goodbye, then Ginger headed into the terminal. Stacy got back in the car, and then it pulled away. Once inside, she headed for the check-in area. She saw Gretchen, Adyson, Holly, Katie, and Milly waiting off to the side, along with a young adult couple she did not recognize, along with all of their bags.

"There she is!" exclaimed Holly, as Ginger walked up to the group.

Gretchen handed Ginger her plane ticket, which revealed that their destination was Washington, DC. As she did, the other girls started getting in line to check their bags and get their boarding passes. Before Ginger joined them, though, she looked over towards Adyson and the two adults with her. Adyson began her introduction.

"Ginger, meet our chaperones! First, this is my cousin, Blake. He's nothing special."

The brown-haired male win chin stubble did not take too kindly to that statement.

"College graduate, cuz! Remember? Majored in art history, duh!"

Adyson whispered to Ginger, sarcastically, "I'm sure that's paid off well."

The brunette then turned to the woman, who had mostly black hair save for the streak of carnation pink dyed locks on her left side.

"And this is Marie, Blake's girlfriend. She's originally from DC, so we're staying at her place during the Jam."

"Nice meeting ya," Marie said to Ginger. "My name is Marie, but you can call me Streaky. It's what my friends call me."

"Oh!" Ginger exclaimed. "Because of the streak in your hair!"

"Yep!"

Adyson grabbed her bag and she and Ginger joined the others in line. Marie was about to follow, but Blake stopped her. He had a shocked look on his face.

"That's not what you told me!"

Back with the girls…

"Anyone thinks it's odd the Chief isn't here yet?" asked Gretchen as she stepped up to one of the self-serve check-in kiosks.

"This is Isabella we're talking about," Adyson said in assurance. "She's our leader! I'm sure she's on her way here even as we speak! It's not like she overslept or anything."

* * *

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro slowly opened her eyes, and she was quickly blinded by the sun's rays pouring through her bedroom window. She raised her right arm to shield her eyes as she sat up in bed.

"What time is it?" she asked herself aloud.

She thought about it for a second. Suddenly, her eyes opened up wide in fear.

"What time is it?" she asked again.

She turned to the digital clock on her nightstand. It read 4:29 a.m. and it was flashing. Isabella knew that could not be right, as the sun was already out, and the fact that the time was flashing meant that the power had gone out temporarily at some point overnight. She quickly hopped out of bed, not caring at all that her hair was a poufy mess, and went to her computer desk, where her cell phone laid. She pressed the on button and waited for it to come to life.

When it finally did come on, she stared directly at the top center of the display to see what time it was.

7:12 a.m.

"No, no, no, no, no, **NO!** I'm late!"

Isabella ran to see if her mom was awake, then she would scramble to get ready.

* * *

15 minutes later, Vivian Garcia-Shapiro walked out the front door of her house and went over to unlock her car and open the trunk. As she did, though, she noticed some activity across the street. Lawrence and Linda Flynn-Fletcher were at their station wagon, currently stuffing some luggage in the back of their vehicle.

"Linda!"

"Hey, Viv!"

Vivian crossed the street to talk with her neighbor and friend.

* * *

Inside the Garcia-Shapiro house, Isabella, having changed into her everyday clothes, was carrying a suitcase and a duffel bag down the stairs. She saw that the front door had been left ajar. Once reaching the bottom of the steps, she dropped her belongings by the door and ran to the kitchen to get something to eat for breakfast on the way to the airport.

On the counter, she saw a box with a logo for Dante's Donuts sitting there. Peering into the see-through top, she saw there was one chocolate-covered donut with rainbow sprinkles left inside. She was about to open the box to take it when she noticed the fruit basket next to it, as well as the lone red apple sitting in it. And to the left of that was her 'Famous Quotes' Calendar. Today's quote just so happened to be, as Isabella read it aloud…

"_An apple a day keeps the doctor away._ Oh, you!"

Following the advice, she grabbed the apple instead and sprinted back to the front door. She bit into the fruit and held it in her mouth as she used her hands to grab her luggage, then stretched out with her foot and pushed the door open so she could get through it.

Isabella made her way to the driveway, and noting that the trunk had already been opened, she headed there to deposit her bags. She saw her mom across the street, talking to Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher.

"What's she doing?" thought Isabella. "Mom knows I'm late!"

She would shout her mother a reminder once she had gotten her stuff into the car. Isabella turned her back to her mother as she tried to lift her bags up into the trunk. They seemed to be heavier now than they were just a minute ago, when she had carried them down the stairs.

Thankfully, that feeling only lasted a brief second, as they got much lighter real quick. And no wonder. Phineas and Ferb were on either side of her, and they had come over to help her. Once the bags were in, Isabella turned to Phineas. She wanted to show her thanks.

But first she had to remove the apple from her mouth. Then she could speak.

"Hi, Phineas! Whatcha doin'?"

"We're going to the Grandest Place on Earth!" Phineas replied.

"I wish I could come."

"Oh, that's right! You're flying out to DC with the Fireside Girls today. Say, aren't you running a little late?"

"Yes. Yes, I am… **MOOOOOOM!**"

Both Linda and Vivian turned to look at Isabella. Vivian then looked at Linda.

"Sorry, Viv. Force of habit."

"Oh, right," Vivian suddenly remembered. "Isa, we have to get to the airport!"

"See you, Phineas!" Isabella said as she waved goodbye.

Both boys waved at Isabella as she and her mom jogged back across the street and to their car. Once in and buckled up, they were off.

"Don't fret, Isa. You're not missing that flight!"

"I trust you, Mom!"

The station wagon backed out of the driveway, headed down Maple Drive, and towards the freeway. Isabella, who was sitting in the passenger seat, whipped out her cell phone to text Adyson.

"'On the way,'" Isabella read aloud as she typed.

Once the message was sent, she sat back and watched as her mom made the turn onto the freeway, heading north.

* * *

At the airport…

"The current time is 8 o'clock," stated a woman over the PA system.

Isabella and her mom made their way to the check-in counter. The Fireside Girls troop leader pulled out her plane ticket and handed it to the attendant.

"I should have enough time to get through security and to the gate," Isabella said, doing the calculations in her head.

The male attendant looked at the ticket, then at Isabella.

"Excuse me, miss?"

"Don't worry," Isabella said, cutting him off. "I'm traveling with friends and a couple of adults. They should already be on the plane…"

"It's not that. Your ticket is for a plane departing from Frank Deringer Airport, on the south side of the Tri-State Area."

Isabella felt her heart drop like a rock.

"Isa," her mom said behind her, "you told me last night you were leaving from Danville International."

"I must have been so excited that I forgot to double-check the ticket! Oh, why couldn't have that new airport opened tomorrow instead of two weeks ago? Now what am I going to do?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Vivian was at the counter, working with the attendant and his manager to try and get Isabella on the next flight to DC. As for Isabella herself, she was standing a few feet away and was on her cell phone, relaying the situation to Adyson.

"You're kidding? **PLEASE** tell me you're kidding."

"I'm not. I went to the wrong airport."

"**WHO DOES THAT?**"

Adyson yelled so loud that Isabella was forced to pull her ear away from her phone, while over at Frank Deringer, pretty much everyone in the boarding area by Gate 10 had turned to look Adyson's way.

"Sorry!" she hastily apologized.

Everyone went back to what they were doing, especially the airline attendant working the gate.

"As I was saying, Stars and Stripes Airlines, Flight 172, to Reagan National Airport, Washington, DC, now welcomes all passengers with first-class seats to board at this time."

Meanwhile, the other girls curiously gathered around Adyson, wondering what was up. But she got up from her seat and walked away without saying a thing to them. She continued her conversation with Isabella, using a more ladylike tone of voice, out of the earshot of the rest of the troop.

"Seriously, Izzy, who does that? You oversleep, you have your mom drive you to the wrong airport, and because you're not here, not only am I now going to have to sit next to a total stranger for the next three-and-a-quarter hours, but I have to take over leadership duties in your absence!"

"That's never been a problem before. Besides, I'm going to be right behind you guys. I'll catch the next flight out of here, and everything will be fine."

"I hope so. I, uh, we need you to keep us focused and motivated at the Jam! We're not gonna accept anything less than Troop of the Year this time around."

"Trust me, Addy. Nothing will go wro-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

"So, what, you're superstitious now?"

"No! Cautious! That's two different things!"

"Okay, I promise."

"Look, we'll be waiting for you at Reagan. Don't keep us waiting!"

"I won't. Fly safe!"

Isabella hung up. Adyson took a deep breath, then returned to the others, as well as Blake and Marie, who were returning from a trip to the in-terminal coffee shop. She gathered them around, and then explained the situation.

"That's not like the Chief," commented Gretchen afterward.

"I know, right?" Adyson said in response.

"You don't think she's got Phineas on the brain again, do you?" suggested Holly.

"For acting so unlike her, I hope so. Anyway, you all know the chain of command. I'm in charge in Isabella's absence, so no funny business on the plane. Got it?"

The girls nodded. Adyson then spun around to make sure her cousin understood what was going on. But, to her surprise, Blake had not been paying attention at all. He was too busy making out with his girlfriend, in plain sight. Adyson was not happy at their embarrassing display, but thankfully, it stopped as the voice of the gate attendant spoke up once more.

"Stars and Stripes Airlines would now like to begin welcoming those with tickets for Flight 172 in Economy Zones 1 and 2 aboard at this time."

"That's us, babe!" Blake exclaimed, breaking off the kiss.

"Alright!" she shouted. "Home sweet home, here we come!"

"Just the two of us!"

They grabbed their respective carry-ons and headed for the gate without making sure their charges were with them. The Fireside Girls looked at each other, confused. Milly was about to follow them, but Adyson stuck out her arm to stop her from doing so. The girls all waited for Blake and Marie to remember them.

They ended up waiting 20 seconds.

"Can't believe we almost forgot the girls," Blake admitted as the pair returned. "That would've been bad."

He stopped, and then leaned over to his cousin.

"Uh, right?"

Adyson sighed before giving her response. "Yes. Yes, it would've."

"Alright then! Time to board, girls!"

They all started heading for the line at the gate, with the so-called responsible adults first, followed by Adyson and the others.

"This is going to be a fun trip," grumbled the brunette, sarcastically.

* * *

Back at Danville International, Isabella returned to her mother's side just in time to hear her options.

"The next direct flight we have that still has a seat available is Flight 405," the attendant told them. "It leaves this afternoon, at 5:55, and arrives at Reagan National at 10:09 local time."

Isabella was in deep thought. She would have to sit at the airport all day, but she would still get to DC tonight. Before she could accept or pass on the offer, though, the attendant began describing the second option.

"If you want to leave earlier, you can try to connect through Atlanta. It's Flight 591, and departs here at 9:30 am. Arrival time at Hartsfield-Jackson is 11:52 local time. Then, Flight 410 from Atlanta to Washington, departs at 1:20 and arrives at 3:09."

Suddenly, Isabella felt her phone vibrate in her hand. She looked down and saw that Candace had sent her a text message. Curious, Isabella tapped on the screen so she could read it, unaware that the attendant had started talking again.

The message read:

_Have a safe flight! And don't forget to have fun!_

_P.S. Phineas made me write this. Like I care._

"Wow," Isabella gasped, thinking to herself. "Phineas hopes I have a safe flight! That means he **DOES** care! But if I text him back now, that means I'm not on the plane, and he would've wished me well for nothing! There's only one thing I can do!"

"Isa! Isa!"

Isabella snapped out of it upon hearing her mother's voice.

"The kind gentleman wants to know which flight to book you on."

The Fireside Girl troop leader knew what her decision had to be.

"The latter, please."

The attendant and his manager looked oddly at each other. Isabella's mom was puzzled by her daughter's response as well.

"Isa? Are you sure?"

"Very. I have an obligation to get to Washington and lead my girls at the Jam! And I can't let anything or anyone to stop me! They're all counting on me to push them to be the best girls they can be. I would never be able to live with myself if I ever failed them."

"If you say so," said the manager. "Phil, print the boarding passes."

"Yes, sir."

Isabella checked her bags and received her boarding passes from Phil, the attendant. She and her mom then proceeded to the security checkpoint, where they had to part ways.

"Bye Mom!"

The two hugged. Isabella then got in line, waving goodbye to her mother. Once she was passed security, Isabella made her way to Gate 9, joining the dozens of others already there and waiting for boarding to begin.

"I feel good about this," Isabella told herself as she found an open seat in the waiting area. "Sure, I'll lose a couple of hours of down time, but as long as Gretchen, Adyson, and I have some time to game plan for the Jam, everything will be just fine! Nothing will go wrong!"

* * *

A large lightning bolt could be seen in the sky by looking out of the terminal window, as well as a number of runway personnel on the ground scrambling for cover as the wind started to gust heavily. Inside the terminal, gate attendants and security were beginning to move people towards the interior portions of the airport. A number of people were gathered around a nearby gaggle of monitors. Four of the six were listing arrivals and departures, with all of the latter already displaying a 'delayed' status. The other two monitors were displaying newscasts, one national and local. The local station was unmuted, and their weatherman was currently describing the situation.

"We're seeing that tropical storm now beginning to affect the entire Atlanta metropolitan area. South and east of the city are already seeing some combination of heavy thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 45 to 50 miles per hour, and it's going to get worse. Remember, the entire area is under a tropical storm warning, as well as tornado and high wind watches. Hunker down, folks, we're gonna be under the gun for the next few hours, with sustained winds between 50 and 60 miles an hour possible…"

Isabella stood among those watching the weather report, and she had a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Wow. Adyson was right."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Uh huh. Okay. Will do, Chief. Okay, bye."

Gretchen hung up, then turned to the other Fireside Girls to relay the news as they sat at a table in a food court of a mall just outside of Washington.

"Chief says she's stuck in Atlanta. She's definitely not getting here before Opening Ceremonies in the morning, that's for sure."

"That area was under a storm warning," recalled Holly. "Why'd she fly there?"

"In any case, it looks like Adyson will have to lead us at the Jam tomorrow."

"Woo hoo," remarked Adyson, unenthusiastically.

"You can do it," said Ginger, as she leaned in to provide some encouragement. "Remember how you led us in setting up that welcome home party for when Phineas and Ferb and the others took that trip around the world in one day?"

"And you're class president!" added Milly. "You never would've beaten Isabella in the election if you didn't show leadership during the campaign!"

"I appreciate the gestures, girls," Adyson told them. "But that's nothing compared to leading the trop at the Jam! The Jam is the crown jewel of the year for a Fireside Girl. There's just so much pressure! How I lead you here will shape how our troop is perceived by other troops from around the world for the next year! I'm not sure if I'm ready to be held responsible if I make us look unorganized, unintelligent, or just plain silly."

"Adyson!" Gretchen shouted. "You're forgetting the first principle of the Fireside Girls! Teamwork!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Holly. "We look out for each other, girl! All of us do! One of us doesn't control how well we do at the Jam. We all do! If we pull through and end up the best troop there, it's because we all worked together to earn that honor!"

"And if we look unorganized, unintelligent, or just plain silly," remarked Katie, "then all of us will be equally responsible for it."

Gretchen leaned over and placed her right hand on Adyson's left shoulder.

"You can do this. We believe in you!"

Adyson contemplated her decision for a few seconds.

"You know what? You girls are right! I can do this! If you all believe in me as a leader, then I should believe in myself!"

The brunette stood up, and she had a look of determination on her face.

"Isabella might not be here right now, but her absence doesn't make us any less of troop than we were with her! We can do this! We'll show up at the Jam, strong and confident, ready to take on anything that's thrown our way! Are you with me, girls?"

"**YES!**" shouted the others.

"Good! When we get to Marie's place, we're immediately going into prep mode! Ginger, Holly, Milly, and Katie, you four are responsible for doing a supply and equipment check and going out to pick up anything we need. Gretchen, you're helping me make assignments for the patch demos and athletic events we'll be competing in tomorrow. But first…"

The girls looked down at their table, filled with trays, cups, and remnants of a late lunch that were sprawled out before them.

"…we're going to bus our table!"

"Aye aye, Adyson!" shouted the others.

As the girls began cleaning their table, Adyson took out her cell phone.

"Meanwhile, I'd better find out where my cousin and Marie are. Seriously, what kind of adult leaves a half-dozen preteen girls by themselves in an unfamiliar food court?"

She walked away from the table, making sure to take her half-full strawberry smoothie with her as she did. She began sipping from the straw in it as she waited for her call to go through. Suddenly, she bumped into the back of someone, and in shock, she released her grip on her smoothie cup. It fell to the ground, and its contents started to ooze out after the lid and straw separated from the cup. Adyson was bummed about losing her drink, but she knew she had to apologize to the person she had bumped into first.

"I'm sorry. I should've been watching where I was going, and…"

The person, a girl who was about a foot taller than her, turned around to face her. Noticing how muscly the girl's arms and legs were, Adyson cautiously took a step back. Before she could take another, though, she stopped upon noticing something familiar about the girl.

"Unh," grunted the girl.

Hearing the girl's voice confirmed Adyson's suspicions.

"Betty Mitchell?"

There was a second girl with Betty, and upon hearing Adyson's voice, she turned around to face her. This girl was the same height as Adyson, and minus the muscles, her skin tone and hair color – black – were the same as Betty.

"Whoa, it's you," the second girl pointed at Adyson. "Adyson Sweetwater of Troop 46231?"

"Yes, that's me. And you're Veronica Mitchell, Betty's older sister. And you're both from Troop 28933."

"Right on both counts!"

"Wait! If you two are here, then that means…"

"You couldn't wait until tomorrow to take a gander at the next Troop of the Year, could you?"

The rest of the core members of Troop 28933 appeared from behind the sisters, and at the front of the group was their leader, Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry. It was the first time Adyson had seen any of them out of uniform, and it was likewise of them for Adyson.

"You also apparently decided to dress like a human blueberry. Is that your style, Adyson?"

Elizabeth was pointing out Adyson's purplish-blue shirt and matching colored shorts.

"My fashion sense is none of your business, Elizabeth. Besides, haven't you heard? Blueberry is the new orange!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Say, Adyson, where's your fearless leader? Or should I say, non-fearless leader, since she's apparently not here."

"Also none of your business."

"Really? Well, I hope she's okay. I want to see the look on her face when the girls and I are awarded Troop of the Year! And legitimately this time, fixing our troop's sullied reputation!"

Gretchen and the rest of the troop had realized that Adyson was surrounded by the entirety of Troop 28933, so they scrambled over to aid their friend.

"Noble reason for wanting to win aside, if anyone's going to be Troop of the Year, Elizabeth, it's going to be us."

"Well, aren't ye the cocky one. Fair enough. We'll see who's telling the truth at the Jam, won't we?"

"Oh, we will."

"And tell _The Great Isabella_ that she better show up. Not a grand victory unless we top the lot of ya."

Elizabeth then turned towards her troop.

"C'mon, girls. We've got some skills to sharpen before tomorrow."

She led her troop away, deciding right there and then that they were going to take their food to go.

"What did they want?" questioned Ginger.

"Oh, nothing," Adyson replied with a smile. "They're just scared is all."

But Gretchen was not so sure. "I don't know."

"Elizabeth is right about one thing, though. There might be a couple skills we might want to brush up on tonight."

She bent down to pick up her smoothie cup, and whatever contents were still in it.

"But first I need to buy a new smoothie."

"And call your irresponsible cousin?" added Milly, with a giggle.

"Milly, no one's allowed to call him irresponsible but me! And yes, that too."

She started dialing her cousin's phone number on her cell in her left hand as she led the girls back to the smoothie stand.

* * *

After completing both tasks, the group headed to Marie's place, which was a condominium in a high-rise building located right on the outskirts of the city. It was literally just a walk of a few blocks to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which went over the Potomac River and into the city.

The girls had looks of astonishment on their faces as Marie opened the door to her condo and led them inside. From the mahogany finish of the kitchen cabinets to the leather sofa, the framed artwork hanging on the walls to the foot-high ten-karat gold bust of her head sitting on the counter, and the 50-inch high-definition TV to the high-rise balcony view, they were impressed by everything they saw.

"Yeah," Marie said, with a smile on her face. "I get that reaction a lot."

She went over to the thermostat and turned on the air conditioner, then led them into the living area.

"There's not room for all of you in the guest room, so some of you are gonna have to sleep out here."

"No prob!" Adyson assured her. "We brought our sleeping bags."

"While you girls get settled, let me see what I can do about dinner."

"Thanks!" all the girls said at once.

Adyson led the girls to the guest room, where they put all their luggage for the time being. She and Gretchen then left the others alone as they began their equipment check. Gretchen, with a pen and a notepad now in hand, took a seat on the sofa next to Adyson, and the two got to work.

"So, if I remember correctly, Isabella had us signed up to do three demos tomorrow, right?"

Gretchen nodded as she reeled off the list aloud.

"Tent pitching, ice cream juggling, and ascending a one-tenth scale model of a national monument."

Adyson groaned about the last one. "Isabella was going to do that one, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"Well, thankfully, I packed my climbing shoes. But that means I have to commit to helping you and Holly set that up. I was supposed to do the ice cream one. We might have to drop that."

"Don't be so hasty. You know, Ginger's almost as good as you are."

"Really?"

"Yes. I saw her juggle five the other day?"

"Five?" Adyson was unimpressed. "Meh."

"They were all double scoop."

Adyson raised an eyebrow. Her interest was piqued.

"Oh, that I have to see! Put ice cream on the girls' shopping list."

Gretchen turned to a new page and wrote it down. As she did, Blake cut in.

"So you're leader now? What happened to your friend, what's-her-name?"

"Isabella went to the wrong airport, took a flight that connects through Atlanta, and now she's stranded there 'cause that tropical storm is passing over that area. Long story short, she's not getting here until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, and so, I'm in charge until then."

"Oh. Okay."

"Blake, I've told you, like, three times already."

He put his left palm on her head and wildly ran it through her hair, messing it up a little.

"Oh, c'mon Addy, you know I'm forgetful!"

He chuckled, then walked to the kitchen to check on Marie. Adyson quickly raised her hands to try to fix her bangs.

"See?" she pointed out, with some snark. "College graduate."

Gretchen laughed.

"But back to the matter at hand. We know now we can do the demos, so we can start thinking about what we're doing for the Troop of the Year competition."

Gretchen turned to a previous page in her notepad that was full, and she leaned over to share it with Adyson.

"Okay, this is the game plan that the Chief and I were working on…"

* * *

Later that night, the girls were all gathered around the couch with the lights dimmed. Blake and Marie exited the room, heading off to bed. With the adults gone, it was time for Adyson to do her best Isabella impression.

"Okay, girls! Tomorrow starts the biggest weekend of the year for us! No matter what happens at the Jam, just remember that we are a team! We watch each other's backs, we're always supportive of one another, and no matter how this weekend turns out, our friendship and loyalty will stand strong! We're Fireside Girls! One and all!"

"And together we belong!" recited the others.

"Right! So, everyone, make sure you get a good night's rest! Tomorrow, we rock the Jam! Are you with me?"

"**YEAH!**"

And with that, the girls headed off to bed. Tomorrow was gonna be a big day.

Even if it was going to be one without their fearless leader.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The wind had died down and the rain was subsiding, given the storm had moved out, but there was still tens of thousands of people stuck at Hartfields-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. It was close to midnight local time, and it could be at least a day or two before things were back to normal.

But a day or two was not going to cut it for Isabella. She had to find a way out of Atlanta, and she needed to find it now. Thankfully, Isabella was a resourceful girl, and with flying out no longer an option, she had arranged a ride with a Fireside Girl troop that happened to be passing through the area on their way to the Jam and was going to get a ride with them.

She waited outside in the passenger pick-up area, where it was crowded as well. She watched as dozens of cars passed by.

"I just realized something," thought Isabella out loud. "How are they going to find me? They don't even know what I look like!"

As if on cue, a horn beeped at her from nearby. She looked to her left and saw a silver minivan slow to a stop right near her. The window on the passenger side began to lower, and a pale-skinned girl with black hair stuck her head out. She waved at Isabella.

"It's her!" she squealed, excitedly. "It's really her!"

Once the vehicle had stopped, the girl opened the door to greet Isabella.

"Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, leader of Fireside Girls Troop 46231?"

"Yes."

"I'm Lucy, leader of Fireside Girls Troop 10264, based out of Jackson, Mississippi! And may I say it's an honor for all of us to meet you!"

"All of us?"

The back passenger side door slid open, and two more girls jumped out. One was a light-skinned redhead with freckles and the other was a dark-skinned black-haired girl.

"This is Lana, and that is Latoya! And, just in case you're curious, all of the girls in our troop don't have names that start with L. Just us three."

By this point, the driver, a woman that looked exactly like Lucy, only 30 years or so older, had stepped out to say hello as well.

"And this is our chaperone, driver, and my mom!"

"Well, hello there!" she greeted.

"Hi!"

"We'll have time for pleasantries on the road. Where're your bags, honey?"

"Stuck in baggage claim, unfortunately. I just have to hope they get to Washington."

"Well, then, nothing to do but hit the road!"

"Thanks for giving me a ride," Isabella said as they started to pile back into the van.

"No thanks necessary!" exclaimed Lucy. "Fireside Girls always stick together! Even when they're from two different troops!"

Once everyone was in, Lucy's mom closed the doors, hopped into the driver's seat, and then they were off. Lana and Latoya had moved over so that Isabella could get the window seat, right behind Lucy.

"We're huge fans of you and your girls' blog! We check it several times a day! Several, several in my case!"

"Ooh! Great to meet fans!"

"We love reading about all of your adventures. But my favorite entries are the ones about you and your quest to win the boy of your dreams. Phineas, right? I mean, what's his deal? You two are made for each other!"

"I know he'll come around eventually…"

"I like Adyson's entries, too. I can't believe she was disappointed in meeting Madison Pettis! You can't be disappointed in meeting a celebrity, no matter who it is!"

"Heh, that's what I keep telling her."

"And why is that whenever Milly and Katie try to cook, there's a canister of rat poison nearby? Is that their thing or…"

"Look," Isabella politely interrupted. "I appreciate all the love, but it's kinda been a long day, and I want to get some rest."

"Oh. Okay then."

With that, Lucy quieted down and settled in, allowing Isabella to breathe a sigh of relief and start thinking about getting some shuteye. But not before pulling out her cell phone and texting Adyson an update.

'Just left airport. If all goes well, should be there by about noon.'

She sent it, then turned off her phone, in an attempt to conserve some battery. She sighed, then stared out the van window.

"I should text Phineas too, to see how his trip is going," she thought to herself. "Then again, it is kind of late."

She paused for a few seconds to debate it. She then reached for her phone to turn it back on. Once it was up and running, she typed out her text.

_Having fun in DC! Miss you, Phineas!_

She was about to send it, but stopped when she began to have second thoughts. After all, it was not in her nature to lie. But she wanted Phineas to know that she was safe, even if she was not with the others.

She changed her message.

_Having a good time! Miss you, Phineas!_

She was ready to press the send button again, but stopped a second time. This time, she was a little worried that she was being a little too personal.

_Having a good time! Miss you and the whole family, Phineas!_

"There," Isabella thought. "That's better!"

She pressed the send button, and the message was away. With that done, Isabella could finally get some sleep.

And believe that her nightmare of a trip was over.

* * *

"Isabella."

Isabella heard someone call out to her.

"Isabella."

She slowed opened her eyes to see who it was.

"Isabella?"

Fully awake, she saw that Phineas was staring at her, with his pointy nose just a few feet away from her face.

"Oh, good, you're awake! I was getting worried there for a second!"

"Where am I?"

She answered her own question as she sat up and felt the palms of her hands push up against blades of grass.

"Am I at The Mall?"

She saw the Washington Monument off in the distance, beyond Phineas' head.

"Oh, you're at a mall, alright."

Upon closer inspection, Isabella found she was actually sitting in an indoor garden located inside a shopping mall. And although she was seeing the monument, it was actually a miniature model of it, on display in the window of a nearby trinket shop.

"But I'm supposed to be at The Mall!"

"And you will be! Or, you and me can run away together and never have to worry about anything or anyone by ourselves ever again!"

Isabella froze, stunned at having been given a choice as to what to do next. And what a difficult choice it was.

"I can't abandon the girls. But I've dreamed of the day you asked me to…"

Isabella stopped herself, as a realization came to her.

"Oh no."

* * *

Isabella shot awake, for real this time, and found herself back in the van. She raised her arm to shield her eyes from the light of the sun, which was brightly peeking through the front windshield.

"Morning already?"

She rubbed her eyes as she tried to get her bearings.

"If my calculations are correct, we should have arrived in DC by now! Or, at the worst, be somewhere in Virginia."

She did not hear the van's engine or felt the van moving. She quickly assumed the former was true. Excitedly, she slid on the seat towards the sliding rear passenger-side door, which was open. She expected to see dozens of Fireside Girls in uniform, national monuments in all directions, and a large group of family, friends, fans, and other well-wishers cheering them on.

She instead saw three Fireside Girls not in uniform, amusement park rides in all directions, and a large group of roller coaster enthusiasts, fried food connoisseurs, and rowdy kids and kids-at-heart cheering for their next thrill.

"Wha… what's going on?"

A few feet away, Lucy had heard Isabella emerge from the van, and she left the side of her friends and fellow troop members to tend to her.

"Sorry for not waking you. We were going to wake you when we got here, but you looked so peaceful. Were you having a nice dream?"

"Yes. Sorta. Wait, forget about that! Lucy, where are we?"

"Glad you asked! Welcome to the Greatest Traveling Amusement Park in the World! The Finest Fair Ever!"

Isabella was so confused that she had to repeat the name to make sure she had heard it right. "The Finest Fair Ever?"

"Yep! Three coasters, dozens of rides and carnival games, and some of the darn best fried concoctions in the world! Here! Have a fried chocolate-dipped crab cake on a stick!"

Lucy handed the aforementioned food item to Isabella, who uncomfortably took it.

"Don't worry," Lucy assured. "It's free with admission to the park."

"I'm sure this is… delicious… but where are we? For real."

"In Tennessee."

"Tennessee?"

"Yep. Tennessee River's right over your shoulder."

"Okay, but what are we doing here? What happened to going to DC?"

"Oh, we're still going there. But we're not arriving there until tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning? But Lucy, I needed to be there this morning!"

"I'm sorry, Isabella. But we're a small troop. We were only planning to be there for the Saturday events. It's our troop's very first trip to the Jam, and we're just going for the experience."

"That's all well and good, but my troop is counting on me to lead them! And I can't do that if I'm here!"

Lana and Latoya walked over to see what was going on.

"Girls, we have a problem," Lucy said as she turned toward her girls. "Isabella thought we were going straight to DC, but obviously, that's not the case. Options?"

The girls thought for a minute. Suddenly, Latoya looked up, as an idea had popped up in her head.

* * *

"I say, I never guessed that you would have the rare Hot Air Balloon Inflation Patch!"

Isabella was sitting in the basket, looking up towards the top of the balloon where Latoya was inflating it with her own lungs. Finally done with her task, Latoya pushed the air latch closed. Exhausted, she slid off the side of the balloon and fell into the waiting arms of Lana, who caught her. Latoya gave Isabella a thumbs up, then promptly fell asleep, exhausted from all of the air she had just exhaled.

"She'll be out for a few minutes, but she'll be fine," Lucy assured Isabella as Lana carried Latoya back to the van to lie down.

"Are you sure I can borrow your balloon? Don't you need it for your demo at The Jam?"

Lucy dismissed that concern immediately. "We brought a spare in case of emergencies. I assume you know how to fly one of these?"

"You assume correctly," replied Isabella, cheekily.

"Then the only thing I have to tell you is to head east-northeast of here to get to DC. Do that, and you should have just enough fuel to land right on The Mall without any problem."

"Got it!"

"Oh, one more thing! You owe me and the girls something for this!"

Isabella was not expecting a catch. She began to worry.

"The minute we get to DC, you'll personally introduce us to Adyson and the others!"

Isabella breathed a sigh of relief. "No problem! That, I can do!"

She turned on the burner, and the balloon slowly began to lift off of the parking lot ground and into the air. Lucy took a few steps back and waved farewell as Isabella resumed her journey to Washington.

"Have a safe flight!" shouted Lucy.

Before she knew it, Isabella was high enough to begin horizontal movement of the balloon. She began steering it to the east-northeast, as instructed to by Lucy, and soon Isabella was comfortably on her way.

"At this rate, I'll be in Washington in a couple of hours!"

But Isabella could not help but wonder how the others were doing in her absence.

"The Opening Ceremonies should be starting any minute! I'll miss the start of the Troop of the Year competition, well, the first event at least. I hope Adyson and the others can manage without me."

**To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

**"Jamboree Jambalaya"  
A "Fireside Diaries" Feature**  
**Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

So, this is up a lot later than I wanted, but better late than never! Here are the second four chapters of "Jamboree Jambalaya!" They're worth the wait!

**Disclaimer:** The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney. All others belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"Let the Jamboree begin!"

And with that declaration from Eliza M. Feyerseid, a crowd of hundreds upon hundreds of Fireside Girls troops gathered on the grounds of The Mall screamed with glee. Once she started walking away from the microphone on the stage, the troops began to disperse to prepare for the first day's events.

Troop 46231 began heading west, starting a long trek from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, along with many other troops. Almost all of their plans for the first morning of the Jam involved setting up and giving patch demonstrations.

"Let's review the itinerary," began Adyson, reciting the morning schedule to the rest of the troop as they walked. "Milly, you're now doing the Tent Pitching demonstration solo. Think you can handle it?"

"No problem!"

"Katie, you're taking Ginger's place in the first event of the Troop of the Year competition."

Katie started doing jumping jacks on the spot.

"I'll do jumping jacks like no one's done jumping jacks before."

"Okay, okay, it's a hot day. Save all of that energy for the competition. Now, Ginger, you're taking my place in the Ice Cream Juggling Patch demonstration. Showing off your act to us last night was one thing, but can you do it out here, in front of a few hundred people? And explain it to those who want to get that patch?"

"I strained my brain reading all five pages of your notes 20 times over before bed last night, just for you!"

"Impressive. And unsettling. Slightly. Gretchen and Holly, you two are setting up the Ascending a Scale Model of a Monument Patch demonstration for me to undertake this afternoon."

"We won't let you down!" exclaimed Gretchen.

"It'll be done by lunch!" proclaimed Holly.

"Good. Unfortunately, since I'm acting as leader in Isabella's absence, I have to do the second event of the Troop competition… the leader interview."

The girls gasped in fear.

"Don't fret. I've seen Isabella practice this many times, and I even did a mock interview myself once. I'm sure they won't ask me anything too complicated that I wouldn't know about. I'm in one of the first groups at 11:20, so I'll stay here with Milly to help her set up for her thing. After that is the Uniform Inspection. Ours is at 12:30 at the model demo location. Katie's exempt 'cause of her event, but the rest of us have to be there. 12:30 on the nose. Not a second later!"

"Aye aye!"

"Okay, girls! Dismissed!"

With that, the group dispersed, with all heading over to where Blake and Marie were sitting with all of the girls' supplies for the day. Adyson took her time, knowing that she had the longest day of them all to get through. But she stopped when a familiar voice spoke up behind her.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were the actual leader of the troop and not Isabella."

Elizabeth smirked as she walked up to and stopped alongside Adyson.

"So tell me, Adyson, why are you the one barking orders instead of her? And why is she not here?"

"That's our business. Not yours."

"There's something going on here that you're not telling me. I said yesterday that winning Troop of the Year means nothing if we can't beat your troop when you're at your best. And you're not at your best without Isabella. So, tell me, where is she?"

Adyson repeated herself. "That's our business."

But that was not an acceptable answer for Elizabeth.

"I want to know where Isabella is! Why won't you tell me?"

And once more, Adyson told her, "That's our business! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an interview to prepare for."

With that, Adyson marched off, wanting to end the conversation before she could lose her cool. As she did, Lauren walked up to Elizabeth's side.

"Remind me again of what time my interview is?"

Lauren, holding a clipboard, read the schedule in front of her so that she could give her leader a response.

"11:20."

"And what time is their troop's leader interview?"

Lauren glanced down at the schedule again.

"11:20. Same as ours."

"What a coincidence! Maybe I'll get my answer after all!"

* * *

Adyson arrived at the check-in table for leader interviews, which was situated between two large, white square tents. As she signed in, she noticed a number of girls standing in front of the entrance to both tents. And among those at the tent to her left was Elizabeth.

"Please tell me I'm not in the same group as Elizabeth," thought Adyson.

That wish lasted all of two seconds, as the worker at the table pointed to Elizabeth's group. Adyson groaned before making her way over there. She made sure to keep her distance, not wanting to start up any conversation with her. And Elizabeth decided to stay away as well, even though she wanted to find out the truth about Isabella's whereabouts.

Suddenly, a woman stuck her head out of tent and motioned for their group to come in. Adyson, Elizabeth, and the other three girls with them obliged. They entered, filling the five chairs that had been set out for them. The woman from before sat down next to two others - a man and another woman, all of them denparents for other troops – at a table that was facing the five girls. They were the judging panel for their interview.

"Good morning, girls, and welcome to the Leader Interview! We're going to be asking you all a series of questions. We have a list that we have to get through in a short amount of time, so I ask that your answers be brief and punctual. Understand?"

The girls all nodded in unison.

"Before we begin, though, one quick matter to attend to. Adyson Sweetwater?"

Adyson gulped. She knew why her name was being called, but she was afraid to acknowledge it out of fear of embarrassment. Still, she had to, to keep the situation from getting worse.

"Yes?"

"According to our records, the leader of Troop 46231 is one Isabella Garcia-Shapiro. Is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"So why are you here?"

"As per Fireside by-laws, the second-in-command is authorized to fill in for the troop leader in official Fireside Girl business when circumstances dictate her being unable to attend, for whatever reason."

"We didn't ask you to recite the guide book; we asked why you're here and not her!"

Adyson had to come up with answer, and quickly.

"She's setting up one of our patch demos, and she couldn't get away because she's the one demonstrating said act, and she's the only one with the patch in question!"

The judges started scribbling notes on their clipboard.

"Such a conflict should've been addressed beforehand, Miss Sweetwater. The interviews were scheduled in a way so that no troop leader would have to miss her interview time. We will allow you to stay in her place, but you will be assessed a ten-point penalty for this interview."

Adyson nodded, knowing a ten-point deduction was way better than her being kicked out of the tent with a score of zero to take as her parting gift. But Elizabeth, still suspicious, decided to intervene.

"I think she's lying!" Elizabeth shouted, jumping out of her seat.

Everyone turned their heads to look at Elizabeth, particularly the three judges. Adyson was at first flabbergasted, then enraged by Elizabeth's outburst. And she jumped out of her seat to make her anger known.

"What part of 'That's our business' did you **NOT** understand?"

"I'm making it my business, especially when you're not being honest about the absence of one of your own!"

"Why do you care so much about where Isabella is?"

"I care because I want to prove that my troop is the best in the world, and it means nothing if we can't beat the best at their best!"

"Oh, you're sure talking a lot for someone with no Jam experience!"

"Same could be said about you and your lack of leadership experience!"

"**ENOUGH!**"

The head judge had yelled at the top of her lungs to get the girls' attention. The three other troop leaders looked over at their counterparts in fear and shame.

"Miss Sweetwater, did you lie about the whereabouts Miss Garcia-Shapiro?"

Adyson sighed. She was being left with no choice but to admit the truth.

"There… was a little snafu. Isabella missed the flight here. But she's on the way. I… we just don't know when she's going to get here."

Adyson then turned to Elizabeth.

"There! The truth! Happy?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Much."

The judges had a short discussion about what to do. After a few seconds, they had made their decision.

"Miss Sweetwater, as you aware, honesty is one of the founding principles of the Fireside Girls. For knowingly being untruthful to the panel, you are being assessed a five-point penalty."

Adyson sighed again as she lowered her head.

"Yes, ma'am."

Elizabeth smirked confidently.

"Miss Griffiths-Hollingberry!"

…but that disappeared from her face upon hearing her name being called.

"It is Fireside Girls policy that tattling is frowned upon except in a life-threatening situation! Seeing as this is not the case, the panel has no choice but to assess you a five-point penalty as well."

"**WHAT?** That's absurd!"

"These penalties are **NOT** appealable!"

Upon hearing that, Elizabeth quickly shut her mouth.

"Now, let's have no more of this nonsense! Please take your seats!"

Both Adyson and Elizabeth complied, although the latter was now visibly upset over getting penalized. With Elizabeth so flustered, Adyson was able to calm down and regaining her focus. She had accepted the penalties and was ready to move on. After all, as acting leader of the troop, it was her responsibility to do so.

* * *

Once the group interview had been completed, Adyson got up fast and was the first to leave the tent. She did not even look back to see Elizabeth go to the judges to appeal her penalty, despite the fact she was told earlier that she would not be allowed to. Adyson went back to where Milly was, and found her curly-haired friend in the midst of her Tent Pitching demonstration, to a sizable crowd of at least a hundred girls.

Adyson remained off to the side, observing Milly from afar. She waited until the demonstration was over and the crowd began to disperse before approaching.

"Izzy would be proud," Adyson told Milly. "That was great!"

"Thanks! So, how did the interview go?"

"All things considered, pretty good."

"Really?"

"I'll explain while we set up for the next group."

* * *

"The nerve of those judges!" exclaimed Elizabeth, as she arrived back at where her troop had set up 'camp' for the day. "A tattling penalty? Since when did they take points off for **THAT**?"

Lauren replied to her chief's query. "It was actually added to the books this year to cut down on false…"

"It was a rhetorical question!"

"Oh."

"Will you chill?" interjected Abigail, putting an arm around Elizabeth. "Overreacting isn't necessary."

"I was penalized five points! I am **NOT** overreacting!"

Abigail leaned over to whisper to Lauren.

"When you consider the max score for the entire competition is 500…"

"Enough chit-chat! Don't we have the afternoon events to prepare for?"

The girls all saluted in acknowledgement, then turned to start getting what they needed for the next few hours out of their bags.

"We are going to win Troop of the Year… with or **WITHOUT** Isabella!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Adyson and Milly met up with Gretchen, Holly, and Ginger near the now-completed 1/20th scale model of the Washington Monument. Gretchen had some papers in hand to give Adyson, which she did promptly. Adyson looked at it before informing the others of what was on them.

"Okay, we started the Jam with 197 points. 147 out of 150 for the pre-Jam troop evaluation and a perfect 50 for sales during the Cupcake Drive. I got a 31 out of 50 for the leader interview after penalties."

"So we have 228," Gretchen said, adding it all up.

"There are 25 remaining on-site events over the next 48 hours. That includes the Jumping Jack competition, which Katie is participating in right now. Each event awards points to the top ten troops, with ten points for first, nine for second, and so on."

"The penalties put us in a hole," noted Holly. "The lead troops are probably in the low 240s. It's going to be tough earning Troop of the Year starting in a hole like this."

"Particularly since we scored 374 to win last year," recalled Gretchen. "Given we're skipping seven events because of a number of time conflicts, that means to match that number, we've got to get 146 out of 180 points in our events."

"Is that possible?" queried Ginger. "Isabella scored so many of our points last year!"

"Maybe so," admitted Adyson, "but she's not here. But we are capable of making due. The judges will be here any minute for our troop uniform inspection. Bust out those lint brushes and check those shoelaces, girls! We're going to pass this with flying colors!"

As the girls scrambled to get their uniforms in order, Adyson pulled out her cell phone to text Isabella a message.

It read:

_'Doing well so far, but we miss you! When are you getting here?'_

* * *

In the skies, just south of the North Carolina-Virginia border, Isabella felt her phone vibrate on her person. She pulled it out and saw Adyson's message. She hastily typed a response.

_'Soon.'_

She sent the message, and just as she did, her phone displayed a warning indicating her battery was low. Then things got worse, as a loud lightning strike got her attention. She turned her attention ahead and noticed that her hot air balloon was drifting into a storm.

A rather familiar storm.

"No way! I caught up to it?"

As the wind picked up and started blowing the balloon around, Isabella grabbed the side of the basket and gripped it tightly. A flash of thunder and an even louder second lightning strike in rapid succession confirmed it.

"Gotta get out of the sky!" she said aloud.

She reached for the burner controls and guided her balloon to the ground. It touched down in an open field with some nearby trees. The wind gusted to near 45 miles per hour, and again Isabella grabbed on to the side of the basket. It died down to 15 miles per hour, still enough to blow Isabella's hair back and forth and side-to-side. She took the opportunity to get out of the basket and run for cover.

Good thing she did, because she was only a few steps away when lightning struck again! This bolt hit the balloon's propane tank, causing it to explode instantaneously. The blast sent Isabella flying head over heels, flinging her about ten feet. She landed on her back, though she got up relatively quickly. She turned towards the balloon, which was now on fire, and quickly her mind raced as to what to do.

But the wild weather sprang into action before she could, as the skies opened up and heavy rain started pouring over the area. Isabella looked around and saw that the only option for cover nearby was trees. And that was not a viable one given the thunder, the lightning, and the wind blowing about.

But then she found a second option, one which was not ideal, but was still better than taking shelter in the trees. There was a three-foot hole that had been dug in the ground for some inexplicable reason. With no time to question it, Isabella made a break for the hole. She hopped in, feet-first, and found that enough water had gotten in already that the bottom of the hole was now mud instead of dirt. Isabella squatted down as best as she could, instinctively covering the top of her head with her hands and somehow managing to keep her skirt from touching the mud.

Isabella stopped hearing lightning, but the wind began howling once more, and she continued to get pelted with rain. Nevertheless, she stayed put, even as the rain ran from her hair and clothes to the sides of the hole, beginning to change those unsecured dirt walls into mud as well.

After a few minutes, she felt the mud beginning to slip into her socks and shoes as the wet dirt was now up to her ankles.

"If I stay here much longer, I'll be stuck! Literally!"

Isabella stood up and attempted to pull herself out of the hole. She pushed her palms against the wet ground around the hole to get some leverage. She felt her feet slowly began to emerge from the muck beneath her. Then, without warning, she broke free, and she climbed out. Once on safe ground, she looked down at her feet.

There were two mud-stained socks and one shoe with the sole completely covered in mud. The other shoe? Not present.

She crawled back to the hole and saw her missing shoe, the left one, still in the mud at the bottom, and almost completely submerged in it. Tugging as hard as she could, she managed after a few pulls to dislodge it from the hole. But now full of mud, it was unwearable. Not that the rest of her was in any better shape, as her hair and her clothes were completely soaked. The rain and the wind had died down a little, enough for Isabella to try and find shelter. She took one last look at the balloon, which was no longer on fire thanks to downpour but was also damaged beyond repair, and then left.

She started off running with one shoe, but quickly finding that an impediment, she took it off, as well as her socks, and continued barefoot. After about half a mile, Isabella came upon a road. One that was empty because of the storm, but a road nevertheless. She looked both ways, not for cars, but for a house. But she saw none. There was a line of power poles along the opposite side that were intact, which gave her hope that there was a building, any kind of building, close by.

With no idea of which way to go and still being doused by rain, she decided to head south, away from the storm. Walking on the asphalt road was painful, but it was either that or risk getting stuck in the rain-soaked grass.

"Have to find… something… soon… **ACHOO!**"

Isabella sneezed, as the early signs of a cold started to set in.

"Next is pneumonia," she told herself, "and if I catch that, then I'm really in trouble!"

Suddenly, Isabella saw a bright light in the distance. It was tough to see in the rain, but there was no mistaking it. Then one bright light became two. They were headlights from a vehicle.

"Talk about luck! Someone out and about in this storm!"

She started running towards the vehicle, waving her arms in the air to get the driver's attention. She moved over to the shoulder in order to avoid getting ran over if the driver had not spotted her in time. But as she did, she slipped and fell off of the side of the road and into a ditch. Her head hit the ground first, the blow hard enough to daze her.

Following the hit, Isabella felt herself wanting to slip into unconsciousness. Still hearing the vehicle coming, she knew she could not let that happen. If the driver did not see her, it could be hours before someone else might come along. And by then…

Isabella summoned the will to push herself off of the wet grass and up to a squatting position. She saw the headlights getting brighter and tried once more to wave her arms around. But her body refused to cooperate. She felt herself getting dizzy real fast, and the next thing she knew, she spun around, fell back down to the grass, this time landing on her back…

…and then she blacked out.

* * *

"Ten points! Great job, girls!"

The members of Troop 46231 high-fived each other after the judge had finished her uniform inspection of the group. As she left to move on to her next troop, the girls were ready for lunch.

Or would be, if it was there for them to enjoy.

"Oh!" shouted Adyson, feeling her phone vibrate.

She saw that her cousin had sent her a text message. It read:

_'Be there once I find a parking space.'_

"That'll be awhile," stated Gretchen, who had leaned in to see what was up.

"I knew I should've had Marie get lunch," groaned Adyson. "Seriously. Doesn't he know how much parking is a premium around here?"

"Oh! You also got a response back from the Chief!"

Adyson read the one-word reply aloud.

"_Soon._"

"Well, that's good news."

"Yeah! At least she can give reliable and trustworthy answers!"

* * *

Back in the middle of nowhere, a shadow was seen approaching Isabella's unconscious body on the side of the road.

"Well," the man whom the shadow belonged to said aloud, "you sure ain't from 'round these parts! I gots me a **BIG** find!"

The man lifted Isabella up with both arms and carried her back to his red pickup truck. Once inside the cabin with his newfound _cargo_ safely secured in the passenger seat, he turned the truck around and headed back the way he came.

And Isabella could not do anything to stop him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Isabella was groggy as she opened her eyes. The first thing that she noticed upon waking up was that she was lying in a bed, underneath the covers. She felt a source of light and warmth immediately to her left, which was a turned-on lamp atop a nightstand that also had an alarm clock and a bible on it. Her eyes then darted to the clothes dresser and the TV atop it on the other side of the room. Then they moved to the dull, green and white wallpaper haphazardly glued to the walls for decorative purposes. On the other side of the nightstand was a second bed, the same size as the one Isabella was in, and beyond that the entrance into the bathroom.

Given all that evidence, Isabella deduced where she was.

"A motel room."

And then, she stated the obvious question.

"How did I get here?"

She felt a buzz in her head as she tried to remember.

"Let's see, I got caught in the storm for the **SECOND** time in as many days, my hot air balloon is unrepairable, I had to run for shelter, found a road, saw a vehicle heading my way, slipped and fell trying to flag it down, and… that's it?"

Putting the pieces together helped Isabella get a sense of things. That was until a new, more frightening question came to mind.

"Why was I brought to a motel room?"

Not feeling comfortable, Isabella threw off the bed sheets. She gasped when she saw that she was no longer wearing her clothes. All she had on was a very large long-sleeve shirt that had the words _DAD GUM_ on it. It was so big that it easily extended all the way down to Isabella's knees. But that was it. She felt nothing but the cotton of that shirt against her body.

Her eyes quickly moved to the brownish-red carpeted floor, searching for her socks and shoes. They were nowhere to be found.

"Paw! **PAW!**"

Suddenly, Isabella heard the shrill voice of a woman outside her room. That was followed by a second, raspier male voice.

"Why you yelling, Maw? We got a guest!"

"What have I told you about bringing other women here?"

The phrase _other women_ set off alarm bells in Isabella's head. Quickly, she slid out of bed and dropped to the floor. She continued to hear the two adults converse outside her door as she searched for anything she could use as a weapon to defend herself.

"She ain't no woman, Maw, she be a girl!"

"You know there are laws against that kinda stuff, Paw!"

"Get your mind out of the henhouse! She be a **CITY** girl!"

"That ain't no different than usual."

"**ARGH!** Woman, if we didn't have two kids **AND** our families would start their 150-year feud up again if we separated, I would've left you years ago!"

"It ain't been no picnic either, having to put up with your womanizing ways for the last 33 years!"

"Look, we have to find out if she's okay! Or at least see if she has any money on her to charge her for the night!"

Hearing them approach the door, Isabella reached for the bible on the nightstand. She then hid in the corner, behind the door so that she would not be seen when they opened it. If they were planning to do something sinister with her, she was not going to go down without a fight.

She heard a key being inserted into the lock, and she stood at the ready. Once unlocked, the door calmly opened. The two adults walked into the room, and the first place they turned was the bed. Isabella raised the hardcover book above her head…

"Where she be?" asked the man.

"Take this!" screamed Isabella.

Isabella swung the book, hitting the man with enough force to knock him to the ground. She then swung at the woman, and she fell, landing on top of her husband. Isabella tossed the bible away, in which direction did not matter to her, and she turned to run out the door.

But it was blocked by a teenage girl and a seven-year old boy. One who was ecstatic about what Isabella had just done.

"Wow! Do it again, do it again, do it again!"

The teenager pulled out a hardcover book of her own, albeit pocket-sized. Isabella thought she was going to hit her with it, but instead, the girl opened it, and started writing on it, using a pen that Isabella just noticed she had up by her ear. She read her musing aloud as she recorded it on paper.

"Dear Diary. The girl we saved from the storm just did a number on the 'rents. My friend's stories about city girls are lies. City girls are just as tough as us country gals."

"Wait," Isabella interjected. "'Rents, as in, parents?"

Isabella spun around and saw the two adults were getting back to their feet, although both were now favoring the backs.

"Perhaps you should add that city girls also," the father said, "despite what we're led to believe, have no respect for their elders!"

"You can't tell me what to write!"

And with that, the girl left.

"Daughter, at least go see if the girl's clothes are dry yet!" he screamed after her.

"I'll help!" shouted the boy. "And I'll get her shoes!"

He departed as well, letting the door swing closed behind him. Isabella made no attempt to leave the room, seeming to have realized that she was not in any danger after all.

"How can a small little giblet like you have that much power?" the man asked as he sat down on the bed.

His wife took a seat next to him.

"If this is what you city folk do to thank someone after we save your life, me thinks we should start leavin' you Yankees out there after all!"

Isabella quickly apologized for her actions, bowing profusely for forgiveness.

"I'm very, very sorry! I thought you were…"

"Oh!" exclaimed the wife. "You heard all that jive we were spewing outside? We just do that to add some spice to our everyday conversation!"

"Gotta do something to keep the flame burning inside!" added the husband. "Year 34 ain't any easier than Year 1! But where are my manners. I'm Paw, and this here is my lovely wife, Maw! And the two youngins you saw are our offspring, Daughter and Son."

Isabella raised an eyebrow, a little perplexed by the names.

"Paw, Maw, Daughter, and Son?"

"First you try to maim us, and now you question our simple family naming scheme? You city folk really have no respect for us country bumpkins!"

"I mean no disrespect. They're… fine names."

"Darn tootin' they are!"

"So, what's your name?" asked Maw.

"I'm Isabella."

"My, that's a lovely name too. Paw, didn't you know a girl by that name once? You know, the one that was a vamp?"

"She wasn't a vamp, she was a vampire! She tried to bite me in the neck!"

"Now, Paw, don't be putting out tall tales! You'll scare the city girl here!"

"They're not tall tales, they're true! And I have the wooden stake to prove it!"

"You do not, Paw. Show me this stake!"

"It's right where I left it, you know. Still in her!"

Isabella felt uneasy again, and once more edged towards the door.

"Well, this has been fun, but I'm sure you two want to be alone to have a spirited debate about creatures of the night and such, so I'll be going…"

"You won't get far," warned Maw. "The road to the south is littered with tree branches and them power lines. The same to the north. You're trapped here in the sticks, girl!"

"You mean the middle of nowhere?"

"You catch on quick!"

"But that can't be! I need to get to Washington! My Fireside Girl troop is counting on me to lead them!"

"Fireside Girl?" Paw scratched the underside of his chin. "Don't have none of them 'round these parts."

Suddenly, Isabella had a bright idea.

"Wait! I can call for help! Where's my cell phone?"

Paw and Maw looked at each other, not sure what Isabella was talking about. She thought they had not heard her right, so she repeated herself.

"Where's my cell phone?"

"Cell phone?" questioned Paw. "What's that?"

"You don't know what a cell phone is? It's like a regular phone, only portable, and you can carry it in your pocket!"

They both shook their heads.

"Wait, who undressed me?"

"Not me," Maw said, before turning to Paw. "Maybe it was Paw."

Paw quickly defended himself. "For Pete's sake, Maw, the girl is **9**!"

"I'm 11," corrected Isabella.

"She's **11**!"

Isabella coughed, ending the argument and getting the pair back on topic.

"Oh, Daughter undressed you."

At that moment, they heard a knock on the door.

"Speaking of which…"

Paw got up and opened the door. Daughter and Son entered the room, the former with Isabella's dry, folded clothes in hand and the latter with Isabella's shoes.

"Um," Isabella said, pointing at her left shoe, "this one still has water on it."

"Son!" barked Paw. "How many times do I have to tell you this? A spit shine requires you to spit on **AND** shine the shoes!"

Son slapped himself on the forehead. "I forgot! I can fix it!"

"That's okay," Isabella cut in, taking back her shoes. "I'll fix it."

* * *

A couple minutes later, Isabella emerged from the bathroom with all of her everyday clothes on, as well as her shoes. Her hair was still a little bit of a mess, but given the circumstances, she would allow it to remain that way for the time being.

"That's better. Now about my cell phone…"

"Cell phone?" Daughter asked.

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you don't know what that is."

"Oh, I know what they are. All of my friends have them. I don't."

"Daughter," interjected Paw, "we are not having that conversation right now!"

"I'm 16, and everyone in school has a cell phone but me!"

"I'm 48, and I don't have one! It doesn't bother me!"

Isabella coughed once more, again redirecting the conversation back on topic.

"Sorry, but I didn't find a cell phone on you or in your clothes."

Isabella eyed Daughter suspiciously.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Are you sure."

Daughter placed her right hand on her chest. "I swear to G-"

"**DAUGHTER!**" yelled Paw. "What did I tell you about swearing in this motel? Go put a quarter in the swear jar back at the office!"

She grumbled as she reached for the doorknob to exit the room.

"Wait!" Isabella shouted, getting another idea. "You have an office?"

"Of course we do. We own this motel, after all. I thought we told you that."

"No. No, you didn't."

"Oh. Well… we have an office!"

"And a phone?" Isabella asked, her hopes getting up.

"Yes!"

* * *

Isabella and Paw and his family were now in the motel office. Paw had just hung up after making a call.

"Well, the Sheriff said there's stuff everywhere. Because we're a business, we get priority, but even then, it could be a day or two before we can get out of here."

"But I don't have a day, and definitely not two!" cried Isabella. "I needed to be in Washington yesterday!"

Paw shrugged his shoulders.

"Them tropical storms. What you gonna do?"

But Isabella was far from defeated. She had one more idea.

"The girls! I know it would pain them to leave the Jamboree, but if they knew I was in a pickle, they'd drop everything and come to rescue me! Quick, let me use your phone!"

Paw wrapped his arms defensively around the phone.

"Sorry, but the motel phone is for in-house and local calls only. Anything else, you gotta use the pay phone."

Now Izzy was the one confused.

"What's a pay phone?"

* * *

Isabella was taken outside the front door of the office to the pay phone.

"Oh! A pay phone!"

She inserted a quarter into the slot, picked up the phone and dialed a number. She was greeted by a friendly voice on the other end.

"To complete this call, please insert two dollars and 25 cents."

Isabella pulled out her coin purse and inserted the proper amount into the slot. Once the last quarter went in, Isabella heard a phone start to ring on the other end.

"C'mon, pick up!"

* * *

A cell phone started to ring from inside a bag amongst those belonging to Troop 46231, who were still on The Mall competing in Jam events even though the sun was starting to go down. Suddenly, a hand reached in to check it. It was Ginger.

"Adyson! Phone!"

Adyson shouted from off-screen. "Who is it?"

Ginger looked at the screen and saw a phone number.

"I don't recognize the number!"

"Then forget it! I'm busy!"

Adyson was showing double-knotting a rope that tied Milly's left leg and Katie's right leg together. But a pan up showed that Milly was dressed in a yellow chicken suit and that Katie was dressed as a human-sized egg.

"Now if someone asks if the chicken or the egg came first," joked Adyson, "we can say both! At the same time!"

Neither Milly nor Katie reacted.

"Oh, come on! I've been waiting to hatch that one all day!"

* * *

With Adyson not picking up, her cell phone went to voicemail. After hearing the beep, Isabella left a message.

"Addy, this is Izzy! Whenever you get a chance, use that phone tracer of yours to track this number! I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere and I'm stuck here because of the storm! I need a rescue, ASAP!"

Isabella then hung up, satisfied with her message. But she was not happy with the results, so she picked up the phone once more and dialed a different number.

"To complete this call, please insert two dollars and 25…"

"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Isabella, as she inserted the proper change.

* * *

In a car driving somewhere near the Appalachian Mountains, a cell phone began to ring.

"**JEREMY!**"

Candace lifted up her phone, expecting to see her boyfriend's face on the display. But when all she saw was a number, she stopped caring.

"Meh."

The phone continued to ring as Candace lowered her hand.

* * *

"C'mon!" Isabella exclaimed. "You're my last hope!"

Eventually, it got to the fifth ring, and Isabella was about to cry knowing the phone was about to go to voicemail. But at the last possible second, someone answered the phone.

"Hello?"

Isabella froze. She recognized that voice anywhere.

It was Phineas.'


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Hello? Hello?"

Phineas had answered Candace's cell phone, under the belief that no call was ever worth missing. But he was beginning to think otherwise, as there was no one on the other end to respond to his greetings.

* * *

But the truth was that there was. She was just a little too stunned to say anything.

"It's Phineas!" she thought. "I know I should've believed he might answer the phone even though it's Candace's, but still, what am I going to do? Will he think less of me if I tell him I'm in trouble?"

"Hello?"

"Plus, he's on a vacation with his family! What kind of monster would I be if I ruin that for him? For all of them? Maybe… maybe it was a bad idea to call Candace after all…"

"Hello?"

"Hi, Phineas!"

Isabella quickly covered her mouth after realizing she had audibly responded to Phineas. Out loud.

"Hi, Isabella."

Isabella's mind raced as she tried to think of what to say next. But the only thing that came to mind was…

"Whatcha doin'?"

Phineas paused for a second before giving a response.

"I'm… on vacation?"

Isabella giggled. "Right. I remember now."

"Say, is something wrong?"

"That was fast," Isabella thought. "He already suspects something's amiss!"

"You're not one to forget something important like that."

Isabella began biting her lower lip. She had no idea when, or rather if, Adyson would get back to her. Phineas was essentially her last hope of making it to the Jam. She had to ask him for help, even if she was interrupting his vacation.

"Phineas, I…"

* * *

"Mom, turn the radio up!" Candace exclaimed. "This is my jam!"

"Um, Candace?" Phineas looked up at her sister. "Kind of on the phone here."

Linda turned up the volume on the radio. Not that it mattered, as Candace started singing the lyrics aloud.

"I be on that phone, that phone, trying to call you, but it don't take no dollar bills!"

* * *

"Phineas?"

"Sorry Isabella! I can't hear you over Candace's singing!"

* * *

"Where have the days gone, honey, it's all right, come and meet me on _The Hills_!"

"Maybe you should call back later," Phineas tried to tell Isabella, "when we can actually hear each other!"

* * *

"Wait, Phineas, don't hang up!" Isabella began pleading. "I need to tell you something very important, and it can't wait!"

"Okay, I'm listening, but I don't know how much I'll be able to hear. Y'know, between Candace and this upcoming tunnel."

Isabella took a deep breath, and then confessed the truth.

"I love you, Phineas!"

Isabella's jaw dropped after she realized she had not confessed that she was in trouble, but rather had blurted out that she had a crush on him. But for some reason, she did not hear his reaction. Not because she was under the belief that he was stunned silent…

But because all she could hear was a dial tone.

* * *

"Isabella? Isabella?"

The Flynn-Fletchers' car was now in the aforementioned tunnel, and Phineas had lost his cell signal. He turned to his stepbrother.

"I guess we got cut off. Hmmm… I hope it wasn't too important, whatever she was gonna tell me."

"Hey!" exclaimed Candace. "Who cut off the music?"

* * *

"What have I done?" Isabella asked herself aloud. "I accidentally confessed my love to Phineas, and we got disconnected before he could give me an answer! What if… what if he's freaking out right now? I don't even know how he feels about me, and not getting an answer right away makes me even more worried that he doesn't feel the same way about me!"

She then paused, as she remembered why she had called him in the first place.

"Oh, and I needed to ask him for help! That's why I called him to begin with!"

She began searching through her coin purse to see if she had change to make another call. But she only had 75 cents left. Isabella ran back into the motel office to ask her saviors if they had any spare change.

"I'm running a business here!" exclaimed Paw. "You think I have money to just throw away?"

"I'd like to help," admitted Maw, "but pay day isn't until Monday."

"You need a quarter?" asked Son. "I don't have any. Say, can I borrow a quarter? Then I can give you a quarter."

Isabella groaned. Despite being gratified that they saved her life, they were otherwise useless to her.

But the fourth member of the family redeemed them all, as Daughter arrived to happily donate Isabella enough quarters to make one more phone call.

"There you go, kid."

Isabella squealed. She hugged Daughter before running back outside to make a call.

"Why'd you do that?" questioned Paw, a little upset.

"I eavesdropped a little bit on her call," she confessed. "The girl's in love, Paw. Love!"

"Kids don't fall in love at her age."

"You first fell in love at that age."

"That ain't here relevant, Daughter!"

Meanwhile, Isabella was back at the pay phone, inserting the coins in. She once again dialed the number for Candace's cell phone and waited for an answer.

* * *

Candace's phone started ringing, as the Flynn-Fletcher car had emerged from the other end of the tunnel, and Phineas, still in possession of his sister's phone, answered it.

"Hello?"

"Phineas! It's me, Isabella!"

"Oh, hi, Isabella! Sorry we got cut off!"

"Yeah. So, what did you think?"

Phineas paused for a few seconds. He had a confused look on his face.

"What do I think about what?"

* * *

On the other end, it was Isabella's turn to pause.

"Wait," she thought to herself. "Why is he not reacting the way I thought he'd react? Unless…"

Isabella took a deep breath, and repeated the last thing she said before their first call had gotten disconnected, hoping he had heard it.

"So, I kinda confessed my love. For someone. I know."

* * *

"Sounds interesting. Anyone me or Ferb happen to know?"

* * *

Isabella proceeded cautiously as she answered Phineas' question.

"Sort… of."

"Well, aren't you gonna tell me who it is?"

"Wait! So… you **DON'T** know whom my confession was for?"

* * *

"Nope! We went into a tunnel, and the last words I heard were _I love_. Then the call got disconnected."

* * *

Isabella could not believe it. Phineas had not heard her admitting her love for him after all! She was relieved. And simultaneously disheartened.

"Oh."

At the very least, she was just given a second chance to admit she was in trouble and in need of his help. And she was not going to blow it this time.

"Well," Phineas continued, "you were going to tell me…"

"Never mind that, Phineas! I've got something much, much more important to tell you!"

"Alright. Go for it!"

Isabella took another deep breath, and then made her confession. The correct one, this time.

"The truth is that I overslept this morning, had my mom drive me to the wrong airport, which thus made me miss my plane! I was able to get on another flight that connected through Atlanta, but that was a mistake because there was that tropical storm passing over and I thought I was going to be stranded! I hitched a ride with another Fireside Girl troop that happened to be on their way to DC by car, but it turns out they stopped this morning in Tennessee, seeing as they were only going to spend tomorrow up at the Jam. I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow, so I borrowed their hot air balloon and tried to fly to DC. But I ended up drifting into that tropical storm **AGAIN**, and I had to land. My balloon got fried, I ended up soaking wet, and I passed out in a roadside ditch, believing that it was the end! Luckily, somewhat, I was saved by this family of oddballs who own a motel in the middle of nowhere, and now I'm stuck here because the roads in both directions have become blocked by storm debris! I know you're on vacation, Phineas, but I need your help! Badly! Surely you can rig up something and come to my rescue, right?"

Having finished her lengthy recap, Isabella waited for an answer. But…

"Phineas?"

Isabella pushed her ear harder into the phone.

"Phineas?"

Again, no answer.

"**PHINEAS?**"

Suddenly, Paw stuck his head out of the office door.

"Phone lines just went dead. The storm must've taken 'em out."

Isabella released her grip on the phone, and it fell to the end of its length before stopping, about a foot off of the ground. It continued to just hang there, swinging back and forth, unable to be returned to its proper place.

Because Isabella was too shocked to react to this latest setback.

* * *

About the only good news that had come Isabella's way in the last couple of hours was that the power was still on. So, with the sun having set and darkness having covered the landscape, Isabella was now definitely stuck at this dilapidated motel for the night. At least she would have a hot meal to put in her stomach, as she was sitting down at dinner with Paw and his family.

Not that she was in any mood to eat.

"I can't believe it," she said aloud. "I'm going to let the girls down by missing the entire Jamboree! This is the worst weekend ever!"

As Isabella lowered her head and stared down at her plate, the family just looked at each other, unsure of what to do or say. Again, it was up to Daughter to instill another dose of hope into her.

"Cheer up. I'm sure your friends have realized that something is wrong, and they're mounting up an effort to search for you! I bet that boyfriend of yours is leading the charge, huh?"

"He's not my boyfriend. I just have a crush on him."

"Well, then, future boyfriend! He'll come around, right?"

Isabella nodded.

"Speaking of boyfriends, I wish I would've called mine before the phones went dead."

"You're 16!" reminded Paw once more. "You're too young to have a boyfriend!"

"What? You and Maw got married at my age!"

"That's not relevant!"

As Paw and Daughter went back and forth once more, Isabella took the latter's words to heart. Again, Isabella was filled with hope. She knew this nightmare of a weekend was going to end, and she was going to get to the Jam. Adyson and the rest of the girls would bail her out. Surely, they would.

* * *

At that exact moment, at Marie's condo, there was a knock at the door. Adyson opened it and found a delivery man on the other side.

"Dropping over luggage for Isabella Garcia-Shapiro," the agent announced.

"What?" Adyson gasped. "Her bags got here **BEFORE** her?"

"I need an adult to sign for these, please."

* * *

Once Blake had signed for them, he and Adyson each took a bag and brought it inside. The other Fireside Girls had the exact same reaction as Adyson did as the cousins placed the bags on the floor in front of them.

"The Chief's bags beat her here?" noted Gretchen. "There must be something wrong!"

"That is mighty suspicious," Adyson thought aloud. "Still, if she was in real trouble, she would've contacted us already!"

The girls started debating the best course of action to take. But before anything could be done, Adyson announced her decision.

"As temporary troop leader, I hereby declare that there is not enough evidence at this time to take any action. We know that Isabella is the strongest member of our troop, and surely she can handle herself. That being said, if morning comes and we still haven't heard word from her, then we will propose appropriate action then. Is that clear?"

The group thought about it for a few seconds, each trying to decide for herself if Adyson was making the right call. Holly was the first to agree, nodding her head. Milly and Katie followed in unison, and then Ginger did the same. The only person not to respond was Gretchen. Adyson squatted down next to her and gave her a pep talk.

"I'm worried about Isabella as much as you are, Gretchen. All of us are. But it won't do us any good to fumble around in the dark with nothing to go on. Better to wait until morning."

Having Adyson logically explain the proposal was enough to convince Gretchen to finally nod in approval.

"Alright then! It's unanimous! Tomorrow, if our fearless leader is not upon us, we will forget about the Jam and focus all our efforts on finding her! Got it?"

"Yes, understood!"

The girls all saluted Adyson. They then began preparing the living room for bed.

"You're really starting to grow into that leadership role, cuz," Blake said, playfully poking Adyson in the left arm with his right index finger.

"I suppose."

"Just don't let it all go to your head."

"What? Me? Never!"

"Speaking of, there might be one more duty for you to take care of tonight."

Blake pulled out Adyson's cell phone and tossed it underhand at her. She managed to react fast enough to get her hands under it and catch it before it hit the floor.

"Better keep track of your phone. Never know who might try to steal it. Or try to harvest embarrassing photos off of it."

"I have no such thing!" Adyson cried, her face a bright red.

Blake laughed as he headed for the master bedroom. Adyson mumbled something under her breath. She then felt her phone vibrate.

"Hmmm… one new voicemail message?"

She checked her called ID to see who left it. The timestamp matched the strange number that Ginger had informed her about earlier in the day.

"Probably just a telemarketer. You join one small book of the month club and suddenly everyone has your number…"

Adyson then proceeded to delete the message off her phone.

**To be concluded...**


	9. Chapter 9

**"Jamboree Jambalaya"  
A "Fireside Diaries" Feature**  
**Story Written by Freedom Fighter**

Sorry for the extra day of making you wait, but I wanted to make sure these final four chapters came out the way I wanted them to. I think I'm finally satisfied so... here you go!

**Disclaimer:** The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney. All others belong to me.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

"Isabella."

Isabella heard Phineas call out to her.

"Isabella."

She opened her eyes and saw Phineas staring at her, with his pointy nose just a few feet away from her face. He extended his hand out to her, and she willingly grabbed it and let him pull her to her feet.

"Welcome back! I was getting worried there for a second!"

"Where am I?"

Her own question was answered when her troop appeared behind Phineas. For some reason, though, they did not look happy to see her.

"Am I at The Mall?"

She saw the Washington Monument off in the distance, beyond Phineas' head.

"Why, yes! Yes, you are."

"Good! Maybe there's still time for us to win Troop of the Year!"

"Sorry, Chief," apologized Gretchen, "but it's a little too late."

Isabella was shocked by that news.

"What?"

"The Jam's over," stated Holly. "Sorry, girl, but by not being here, you failed us all."

"We finished 187th!" exclaimed Adyson. "I didn't even know there were that many troops here!"

"You let us down, Isabella," Ginger said, as she shook her head. "It's your fault we couldn't get the job done!"

"It's all your fault!" Adyson and Holly shouted in unison.

"It's all your fault!" Milly and Katie barked simultaneously.

Then, all six of them started repeating the phrase over and over again as they pointed at her, with Phineas joining in as well.

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"

"No," Isabella cried.

"It's all your fault!"

"No!" Isabella said again, a little louder.

"**IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!**"

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**"

* * *

Isabella sat up, panting heavily as she woke up from her nightmare. She felt sweat dripping down both sides of her face, and she reached up to wipe some of it off with the back of her right arm. By this point she was awake enough to realize she was still at the motel, in the same room she was in when she had woken up there the first time.

She turned her head to the left to look at what the time it was. The alarm clock read 6:50 a.m. She turned to her right and could see sunlight peeking through the blinds of her room's only window.

"Great," she mumbled, sarcastically.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Isabella walked out of the hotel room, with her hair brushed and looking straight and shiny, as always. She extended her arms up and outwards to stretch them out. Then she turned towards the rental office and noticed a vehicle parked out front that had not been there when she went to sleep last night.

A sheriff's car.

She sprinted to the office, seeing an opportunity to get back on the road to DC fall right into her lap. Once there, she pulled the door open and walked in, instantly ending the conversation between Paw and the sheriff.

"I need your help, sheriff!"

* * *

Soon after, the sheriff's car was back on the road. Isabella was in the car with him, sitting in the passenger's seat.

"That's one behemoth of a story you've got there," the sheriff said aloud, just minutes after hearing her describe everything she had gone through. "If I didn't know any better, it sounds a little unbelievable."

"I assure you, officer, everything I've told you is the truth! As a Fireside Girl, I've sworn to always tell the truth."

"Fireside Girl, huh? I had one as a friend when I was about your age. Oh, she was a cutie. Still can't believe she had a crush on me for five years."

Isabella's eyes went wide upon hearing that.

"The worst thing is that I didn't even see it. And when I finally did, she had moved on. Now she's been happily married for 40 years to that criminal!"

Isabella gasped. Seeing that he had spooked her, the sheriff clarified his statement.

"Not a literal criminal, mind you. He's a bad egg, but he doesn't have a record… that's beside the point! The word of a Fireside Girl is as good as Carolina barbecue sauce on a pulled pork sandwich! What can I do to help?"

"I need to find a way to Washington, of course! But first, do you have a phone?"

* * *

At Adyson's cousin's apartment, the other members of Troop 46231 were up bright and early. Having gotten up that morning and discovering that Isabella had still not shown up there had cast a cloud of worry over the group. The time for waiting was over. Already beginning to fear the worst, it was time for action.

Adyson was pacing back and forth as she addressed the others, who were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder as if they were a military platoon.

"Okay, girls, I'm not going to mince words! Our commanding officer is still MIA, and I for one know that she would never, ever abandon friends in need, especially friends who are as loyal as we are! That being said, it's time to become proactive and begin a search for her. Gretchen?"

Gretchen stepped forward with a handmade chart in hand and placed it on an easel that had been set up ahead of time.

"After using the phone tracer app installed on Adyson's phone, which I'm surprised she still has, I managed to pinpoint Isabella's last known location. She's just outside of the town of Pelham, North Carolina."

Holly raised her hand. "That's good, right?"

"It would be if it were a fresh signal. The phone stopped transmitting a signal at around 12:20 p.m. yesterday. That matches the time stamp on the last text Isabella sent Adyson, given a margin of error of about three minutes."

Gretchen replaced the first chart with a weather map.

"I'm still not sure how the Chief got from Atlanta to the North Carolina-Virginia border, but she ended up catching up with the tropical depression that had originally stranded her at the former."

"We'll figure out the how and why later," Adyson said, speaking up. "Right now, all we know is that we have a location to begin our search with. Now, the next order of business is figuring out how to get there. Anybody know anyone in that area? Relative, friend, a local Fireside Girl…"

Adyson scanned the girls' faces, looking for someone to pop up affirmatively. Unfortunately, none of them would oblige.

"Well, looks like we're on our own for traveling and lodging arrangements. Gretchen, start looking up possible options…"

Suddenly, she found herself interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing.

"C'mon, girls, this is important! You know better than to leave your phone on during such an im-…"

Gretchen leaned in to do some interrupting of her own, as she whispered into Adyson's left ear. Suddenly, Adyson's went wide and she blushed in embarrassment. She then reached into her pocket to pull out her cell phone, and sure enough, it was hers that was ringing. She looked down at the display and saw a phone number that she did not recognize.

"Not again! Well, this time I'm **NOT** ignoring it!"

Adyson pushed the answer button, expecting to lash out at whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Adyson, whatever you do, **DON'T** hang up!"

But Adyson was immediately disarmed upon hearing who had called her.

"Izzy?"

The other girls snapped their heads up at attention, overjoyed to hear that Isabella was on the other end.

"Hold on, Izzy, I'll put you on speaker!"

Adyson proceeded to do so.

"I'm here with everyone!"

"Oh, wow, everyone's up this early?"

Upon hearing Isabella's voice for the first time in two days or more, the girls squealed with joy and relief. Adyson quickly hushed them all before starting to talk into the phone again.

"What are you doing in North Carolina?"

* * *

Isabella was on the phone at the sheriff's office, sitting at his desk while the officer himself was on the other side, half-listening in.

"It's complicated. So I take it you got my message yesterday?"

* * *

"Your message?"

Adyson looked over at Ginger, who silently mouthed the words 'that number' at her.

"Yeah. Sure, we did."

"Adyson."

Isabella quickly came back, not believing Adyson for a second.

"No. It's complicated."

* * *

"Long story short, I'm safe here. Got a little off-track, had a couple snags, but nothing too troubling. I'm at the sheriff's office here, but once I get off the phone, I'm heading to the local train station. Sheriff says it's about a five hour trip, one-way."

"And this is a sure thing?"

"Well…"

* * *

"This is the third day in a row you've told me that you're on the way. Izzy, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't want to be here."

Adyson heard the others gasp in shock behind her, and she paused for a second. She took her phone off of speaker and began talking to Isabella one-on-one.

"Why would you say that?" questioned Isabella. "Do you mean it?"

"No. But I'm starting to think that maybe I should."

* * *

"Addy, I'm trying my best to get there! You know that! This is the biggest weekend of the year for all of us! The Jamboree is the culmination of all of the good we've done not only for ourselves, but for the entire Tri-State Area! It would take a lot, and I mean a lot, to keep me from being there with you girls."

Isabella heard Adyson sigh. "I know. It's just I'm under a lot of pressure trying to fill your shoes. We did well yesterday, but probably not as well as we could have done. I just felt that we came into this thinking we could win Troop of the Year, and if we don't…"

"Stop. Adyson, you know you're a great leader. You also know that this is more than winning Troop of the Year. Right now, all that matters is that you're there to guide and support the girls! That's what you're responsible for, first and foremost!"

* * *

Adyson nodded.

"Now, put me back on speaker."

Adyson complied as she turned back towards the other girls.

"I want you all to stop worrying about me," Isabella told them. "You've done well so far. I'll be there soon, promise, but for the time being, Adyson is still in charge. I want you girls to get out there today and do me proud! Got it?"

Gretchen quickly answered. "Yes, Chief! Always!"

Everyone else voiced similar approval. Upon hearing that, Adyson took command once more.

"You heard her, girls! The Jam is back on! Let's show those other teams what we're made of!"

The troop began to cheer enthusiastically, their attention turning back to doing well at the Jamboree.

* * *

On the other end of the line, Isabella hung up the phone.

"Now that the girls know I'm okay and that they're fine as well, it's time to finally get there and join 'em!"

* * *

A short time later, Isabella found herself at the nearest train station. Despite what had happened to her in the past 48 hours, she could not help but give a little chuckle upon seeing what town she was in.

Danville, Virginia.

"Seems right to restart my journey in Danville. I just didn't think it'd be one of the other 19 ones."

The sheriff, who had gone off to buy Isabella a train ticket, returned at that moment to give it to her.

"Thanks!"

"Anything for a Fireside Girl."

He led Isabella to the platform, where the nearly-packed train was waiting to depart. Isabella boarded, and a few minutes later, the train started to pull away from the station. She opened the window next to her and stuck her head out of it to shout at the sheriff.

"Thanks again for your help!"

Isabella pulled herself back inside and then she slumped down in her seat to relax.

"Third time's the charm. I'm getting to Washington today. I can feel it!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

The first of the events of the second day of the Jamboree were underway on The Mall as Troop 46231 arrived. Adyson led the group out of her cousin's van and they marched proudly onto the grounds. That got the attention of passersby, regardless of whether they were a Fireside Girl or not. Among those that turned their head upon the troop's arrival was Elizabeth, who had been watching some of her girls compete in that aforementioned event.

But she got up from her seat on the temporary bleachers and went over to see what was going on.

"You girls are a bit too happy considering where you are in the standings."

Adyson held up her hand, signaling for the others to stop.

"And seeing as how Isabella is still not among you, I predict you're going to stay down there."

Adyson fired back. "And may I say that you're acting a little bit high and mighty given your troop's only…"

"Six!" shouted Gretchen.

"Thank you, Gretchen, **SIX** points ahead of us."

Elizabeth went on the defensive. "It might as well be sixty! Our best events are today."

Adyson smiled confidently. "As are ours."

She snapped her fingers, and each of the other girls pulled out something from behind their back. Milly was holding a wooden spoon, Katie a bag of carrots, Holly a wireless microphone, Ginger a math textbook, Gretchen a wrench, and Adyson a kids' size golf club.

"I hope you and your girls have fun today," Adyson said, before adding, in a more friendly tone, "I know we will!"

With that, Adyson walked away from Elizabeth, and the others followed her, as they went off to find a spot to set up base for the day.

"You can't walk away from me!" cried Elizabeth. "I'm not done making me and my girls look more superior than you! Come back here!"

But they ignored her. Elizabeth heard Lauren walk up to her from behind.

"Troop meeting?" guessed Lauren, seeing the look on her friend's face.

"Troop meeting," grumbled back Elizabeth, who was clenching her fist in anger.

Meanwhile, Adyson signaled for Gretchen to come to her side.

"She's reacting as expected," Gretchen said, looking back at a flustered Elizabeth.

"Good," replied Adyson. "We don't need to worry about her any more. We can just focus on us. And I got a good feeling that's all we'll need."

* * *

And with that, Troop 46231 began their participation in the Jam's second day. And many of their events had them going up against Troop 28933, sometimes even directly.

First up came the Engine Trouble event, which was a race to see who could diagnose an engine problem in a go kart and fix it so it could start in the shortest amount of time. Gretchen watched Lauren compete in her heat, taking note as the latter completed the task in 47 seconds. Lauren smiled happily, pleased with her performance. But that smile would not last long, as Gretchen was in the very next heat, and she did her one second better, fixing the engine and starting it up in just 46 seconds.

Next was the Mega Word Problems event. Ginger and Abigail were in the same heat as each of the four girls in their group were handed a piece of paper with the same problem. It detailed a story about a jar filled with 100 marbles and four girls, labeled as A to D, each taking turns pulling marbles out, with each of the girls taking out a different amount than any of the others, but the same amount each time. They were to figure out who would pull out the 25th, 60th, and 100th marbles from the jar. The four competitors, each sitting at a desk, went to work figuring out the answer using a provided notepad. The idea was to solve the problem as fast as possible, then get out of their seat and run to the judges to show their answers. Ginger and Abigail finished simultaneously as they jumped out of their seats and made a break for the judge. Abigail won the race and presented her work, but was surprised when the official shook his head, which was the signal that she did not get all of the answers correct. He then took Ginger's notepad and, after a couple seconds, declared her the winner by grabbing her arm and raising it in the air.

Then there was the Not That Miniature Golf event, in which Adyson and Elizabeth had the misfortune of being put in a threesome together along with one other girl. Elizabeth took her tee shot at the first hole and, for a minute, it seemed as if she was a professional, as the ball landed on the green 95 feet away and rolled toward the hole, stopping about nine inches from it. Elizabeth stuck out her tongue at Adyson, non-verbally daring her to beat that. Adyson took her spot on the tee, and it turned out, she was prepared to rise to the challenge. She swung her club and her ball went airborne. It got to the green as well, bouncing on the ground twice, going over Elizabeth's ball, hitting the flagstick, and dropping directly into the hole. In disbelief, Elizabeth's jaw dropped. She then turned to Adyson, expecting to see her celebrating her hole-in-one and getting the chance to berate her for being overjoyed for a lucky shot. But the brunette was all business, as she had her scorecard out and was writing a one on it for the hole. When Adyson finally did react, it involving flashing a teeth-baring smile at Elizabeth, and that was it.

* * *

And then there was the Cooking Soup over a Campfire event. Sisters Betty and Veronica were attempting to pick the meat off of four fried chicken breasts to dump in their broth, while friends Milly and Katie were chopping carrots for theirs.

"Five-minute warning," said one of the event's judges through a megaphone. "Judging begins in five minutes!"

All of the competing pairs continued their work, many of which were throwing the last of their ingredients into their already boiling pots. Both Betty and Veronica and Milly and Katie were among them, and they were beginning to season their soups. Suddenly, Betty could be heard grunting loudly.

"Ugh! **UGH!**"

Betty had grabbed her older sister's hand to stop her from dumping something into their pot.

"Betty!"

"Bad! Bad!"

Betty pointed at the cylindrical container Veronica had. Betty took a second look at it and gasped in shock when she read the label.

"Rat poison! Eew! Where did that come from?"

She dropped it on the grass, where it rolled out in front of the table to the point where Katie could see it from where she was standing behind her table.

"I'm so glad we started paying attention to what we put in our dishes," Katie said in relief, recalling their past incidents.

"Salt!" called out Milly, who was stirring the pot and had her back to her friend.

Katie picked up what she thought was the salt container and, despite what she had just said, did not even look at it as she handed it to Milly. Milly, though, did remember to check what was being handed to her. She gasped, then tapped Katie on the shoulder to show her what she had just handed her.

Katie's reaction said it all.

"Rat poison! I've checked the bag that had all of our ingredients no less than a dozen times today alone!"

"So did I," admitted Milly, "and that was never in there! Where did it come from?"

"It came from me!"

Everyone turned and saw a man dressed pointing at himself with one hand and using the other to cradle an empty cardboard box under his armpit. A box that had the words 'rat poison' written in marker on each side.

"I am the great Ratpatooie, and I go around the country giving out canisters of rat poison to unsuspecting little chefs to teach them to always look at what they put in their dishes! A-ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

But his maniacal laughing was short-lived, as a second later two police officers appeared from the crowd, and they handcuffed him on the spot.

"Your 13-month, 22-state reign of poison food terrorism is over, Ratpatooie!" exclaimed one of the officers. "Time to come with us!"

"But who will keep people safe from poisoned dishes if I don't poison dishes?"

"Tell it to the judge."

The guy was led away, leaving everyone stunned and perhaps stupefied by what had happened.

"Wow," Milly finally spoke up. "Didn't expect our running gag ending that way."

"Me neither," said Katie in agreement.

* * *

There were no more odd interruptions the rest of the day as the competition continued. Eventually, it was time for the Tug of War event, and it was no surprise to see Troop 46231 draw Troop 28933 in the very first round.

"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it," Gretchen said, seeing that the heavy-set Betty was among their rival team's four participants, "we've got a 0.00015 percent chance of winning this."

Adyson agreed with Gretchen's analysis, but…

"As long as it's not zero, we still have a chance!"

Of course, everyone looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Don't give me those looks! Isabella would say the same thing and you know it!"

"Speaking of the Chief," Gretchen said, pointing at her watch, "she should be due in at Union Station in T-minus 20 minutes."

"I suppose someone should be there to greet her. Gretchen, I nominate you. And take Milly with you. Neither of you have anything lined up for the next couple hours."

Gretchen and Milly saluted Adyson, then ran in the direction of the nearest metro train station. Adyson and the remaining girls then picked up the rope on the ground at their feet. They then turned their attention to their opponents.

"Everyone ready?" Adyson asked.

"Yeah!" shouted Holly, Katie, and Ginger, in the order that they were behind her.

The official blew the whistle. Betty tugged hard on the rope once, and all four of Troop 46231's members were pulled off of their feet and dragged until the flag at the center of the rope crossed Troop 28933's cones. That took less than three seconds.

Each of the girls had their face planted in the back of whoever had been in front of them, save for Adyson, whose face was in the dirt. But she was not buried too deeply in, as she could hear Elizabeth laughing at Adyson.

"Even a foursome of toads would last longer than you wankers! Ha ha ha!"

Elizabeth skipped away to rejoin her teammates as Adyson lifted her head up out of the dirt. She was frowning as she heard Holly make a comment behind her.

"I'm starting to see why you don't like her."

* * *

At Union Station, Gretchen and Milly were at the arrivals board, trying to figure out what train Isabella would be on. Well, rather, Milly was looking at the board, while Gretchen, who happened to have her laptop with her, was using the station's wi-fi connection to try and figure out where Isabella had caught the train.

"No way!" Gretchen exclaimed upon finding the information. "Milly, Train 1539!"

Milly searched the board and saw it at the top of the list. She was shocked as well that Train 1539 was coming in from Danville. And confused.

"Wait, I thought she was in North Carolina! She took a train back home first?"

"No, that's a different Danville than ours."

"There's more than **ONE** Danville?"

"Twenty, in fact, including ours."

"Wow. Talk about unoriginal."

Milly then spotted something else out of place. The board listed Train 1539's scheduled arrival time as 9:58 a.m. It showed the current time as 3:05 p.m. and that the train had been delayed.

"According to the online schedule," Gretchen told Milly, "there is only one train from Danville to Washington every Saturday, and it leaves at 4:45 in the morning. It must've been severely delayed by the storm. The fact that it left at all makes me believe that the Danville area was not hit by it as much as I originally thought."

"Okay, so how do we find out what time she's going to get here?"

Gretchen pointed at the ticket counter, where they got one of the workers to do an inquiry into the train's current location.

"At last check," the man told them, "Train 1539 should arrive at 3:43."

The pair thanked him and then walked off to figure out what to do until then.

* * *

On board Train 1539, Isabella was looking out her window and enjoying the sights as it passed through the Northern Virginia suburbs, on its way towards its final destination, Union Station.

But then, without warning, the train started braking hard. Bags started falling out of the overhead compartments and some people were tossed out of their seats. Isabella grabbed the armrests of her seat and hung on for dear life. A few seconds later, the train had come to a complete stop. As everyone in Isabella's car was curious as to what was going on while checking if anyone had been injured, they heard the voice of the train conductor over the PA system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some electrical problems. We ask that you please remain seated until the train has resumed operation."

Facing the possibility her third attempt to get to Washington in as many days would end up just like the previous two, Isabella's face grew serious, knowing she had to do something to get this train back on track. So, against the conductor's orders, she got out of her seat and ran for the front of the car, determined to make her way to the head of the train no matter what.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"Miss, you can't go in there!"

Isabella ignored the train worker and opened the door leading from the first passenger car to the engine car. He tried to stop her from getting into the engine car, but was unsuccessful as Isabella reached up and slid the door open, to the surprise of the conductor on the other side.

"What the…"

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, but perhaps I can help!"

The conductor, though, seemed unconvinced.

"But you're just a girl!"

"Oh, I'm not just a girl! I'm a Fireside Girl! Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, leader of Fireside Girl Troop 46231, at your service!"

The worker caught up and grabbed Isabella by the arms. Isabella struggled as she tried to break free, but he refused to let her go.

"I'll take care of her," he said as he pulled Isabella back out of the car.

But Isabella got a reprieve, as the conductor held up his hand.

"Wait, you're a Fireside Girl? Like all of those girls down at The Mall at the Fireside Girls World Jamboree Jambalaya?"

"Yep!"

"Hmmm…"

The conductor snapped his fingers, and in an instant the worker released his grip on Isabella's arms.

"It'll be 45 minutes to an hour before a repair crew from Union Station can make it out to us. Given your rush up here, I suppose you know how to fix this electrical panel."

He pointed as said panel, which had a couple of sparks flying from it, and some sort of light brown liquid dripping off the front of it and to the floor.

"It stopped working for some… ahem… unknown reason."

Isabella's eyes went from the panel to the floor, where the liquid was forming a puddle near the commander's feet. And nearby was a 20-ounce styrofoam cup, which had markings on it. The first line read 'VCh w/ 1E & HC' and the second read 'Bret.'

"Lemme guess," Isabella said aloud. "Vanilla Chai Coffee with a single shot of expression and heavy on the cream. Right, Bret?"

She was looking at the conductor's nametag, because it had Bret on it.

"So they teach you coffee shop lingo in Fireside Girls now?"

Isabella frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the conductor, whom she had just proved was responsible for why the train had stopped.

"Oh, so it's my fault because they can retrofit trains so that the engine runs on electrical systems, but putting in a cup holder is a waste of money?"

"Yes," deadpanned Isabella. "Yes, it is."

The conductor groaned. "Well, blame aside, the question again is… can you fix it?"

"Well, Holly is the one taking that summer correspondence course on elementary electrical circuit board analysis, but I skimmed through a chapter or two of her online textbook one day last week and understood about 90 percent of it. I'm sure it can't be that hard."

* * *

A few minutes later, Isabella was lying down on the floor and was underneath the control panel as she fiddled with the electronic wires and circuitry there. The conductor and the train worker just observed her, being silent as they waited for Isabella to do her thing.

Suddenly, Isabella slid out from under the panel and started dusting off her hands.

"Okay, start it up!"

"What did you do?" asked the worker.

"Wiped off a few boards, checked for short circuits and thankfully found none, and rerouted power to the auxiliary source. About how far do you think we are from Union Station?"

The conductor gave her a reply. "If we can get to normal speed, about 15 minutes."

"Good. Auxiliary power should last just enough to get us there, as long as everything but the engine stays off."

But the train worker did not believe Isabella had done all she said she had.

"You were under there less than five minutes! You're telling me you did all that and that fixed the problem? If that engine starts, I will eat my hat!"

The conductor pushed the start button, and Isabella was smiling as the train's engine roared to life. The conductor turned back to the worker to see if he would eat his hat.

The worker did, taking off his hat and putting it in his mouth. He started to chew in it, but stopped after a few attempts to make a remark.

"Needs salt."

* * *

Back at The Mall, the woman who was the head of the judging panel at Adyson's interview yesterday was walking around the grounds, using a megaphone to make an announcement.

"Attention to all troops participating in the Talent Show event! Registration is going on now on the north side of the Jefferson Memorial and ends at 4:00! The event starts at 4:15! If you wish to register, do so now!"

The four members of Troop 46231 were still dusting themselves off after the first-round exit from the Tug of War event.

"I still have hope Isabella will get here in time," Adyson thought aloud, "but if she doesn't… Holly, you're Plan B! Ready to sing your heart out?"

Holly opened her mouth to say _Yes_, but no sound came out of it. She tried again, and again, and again, as the others watched her. But no matter how hard she tried, the only thing coming out of Holly was dead air.

"You lost your voice?" cried Adyson, putting her hands on her head. "This can't be happening! If Gretchen here, she would say that you must've landed on me such a way that your vocal chords tightened up when they directly impacted with my back – which would explain this ache I suddenly have…"

Adyson reached behind her and started massaging one of her lower vertebrae with her fingers.

"…and now that's left you unable to speak, much less sing!"

Holly nodded in acknowledgement.

"What do we do? There's no one left among us who's a good solo singer!"

"But didn't we sing as a group last year?" questioned Ginger.

"We did, but they changed the rules this year. Only one entrant put troop, thusly, one singer."

"Can't we show some other talent but sing?" asked Katie.

"Do either of you **HAVE** a talent worth showing off?"

Ginger and Katie both shook their heads. Adyson was ready to give in.

"Guess we have no choice then."

* * *

A few minutes later…

"And the talent you'll be showing off?" asked the Fireside Girl volunteering at the registration desk.

Adyson gulped nervously before giving her answer.

"Singing."

* * *

The Talent Show event was underway, as participant after participant showed off on a stage set up near the Jefferson Memorial. Off to the side of the stage, an area was roped off for performers that were still to have their turns. Among them was Adyson, who was shaking nervously as the numbers around her started to thin out. Off in the distance, she could see Ginger and Katie doing their best to try and help Holly get her voice back before Adyson's turn came up so she could take her place. Their attempts involved Ginger repeatedly hitting Holly in the back with the palm of her hand, while Katie titled Holly's head back as she poured water from a bottle into her mouth.

Unfortunately, they were doing so at the same time. And the end result was Holly spitting an equivalent of half the bottle's contents back in Katie's face.

"Yeah, that's not working," Adyson noted aloud.

She had a white poker chip in hand that had the number '37' written on it.

"Good news is I lucked out and drew the very last number. Bad news? The show's going faster than I thought."

"Next up is entrant number 21," stated the emcee from the stage.

Adyson started pacing back and forth. With Isabella still a no-show and the attempts to restore Holly's voice an apparent failure, it seemed more and more likely that Adyson would have to take the stage herself.

"I've never seen you so nervous! It's like you've got knickers in a bunch!"

Adyson looked up even though the voice already told her who was speaking without even seeing her face.

Elizabeth.

"Not the time! Trying to envision how I can get on that stage without making a complete fool of myself."

"You know," suggested Elizabeth, "you could just drop out. No one will know the difference."

"Gee, thanks."

Elizabeth showed Adyson that she had drawn the number '36.'

"I'd be scared too if you had to follow my act! I'm singing _America the Beautiful_!"

Adyson gasped. "You can't! That's the only song I can sing half-decently!"

"Not true!"

Both girls turned to see a pale-skinned girl with black hair walk up to them. For some reason as she approached them, she held up her token, which had the number '35' on it.

"Adyson sang in a song bottle at the class presidential debate against Isabella! The lyrics were good, and I assume you two sang great. Assume 'cause, you know, you guys said people had requested an audio clip of it and you never got around to posting it."

"Um," Adyson said, confused, "how do you know about that? And my name? Have we met?"

"My name's Lucy and I'm the leader of Troop 10264! I know of you because of your troop's blog! We're all big fans!"

Lucy then hugged Adyson.

"Great," grumbled Elizabeth, sarcastically. "You have a fangirl."

Lucy then turned towards Elizabeth.

"And you're Elizabeth, the leader of Troop 28933! You're the rivals!"

"Well, at least you got one part of that right."

Adyson scowled, not pleased with Elizabeth's assessment of the former's troop to this point.

"I need to go warm-up my golden voice! See you, commoners!"

With that, Elizabeth walked away.

"It's true what you say on your blog, Adyson," Lucy said aloud. "She really does act like she's got a tack stuck up her…"

Adyson kept her from finishing her sentence by covering Lucy's mouth.

"I wouldn't say that out loud. She's got good ears."

* * *

"Train 1539 has arrived at Gate E. Please stand clear of the exit doors to allow passengers to enter the station. Thank you!"

Gretchen and Milly stood up and waited for Isabella to emerge. Gretchen only had one eye on the door, though, as the other was on a nearby clock. In her hand was her cell phone, with a text message from Holly on display and describing what had happened. So Gretchen was abreast of the situation and knew that they had no time to waste.

But could they get there before it was too late?

* * *

"Give another round of applause to Lucy of Troop 10264, who played 'Chopsticks' on the keyboard with her feet!"

In the audience, Lucy's mom and her troopmates were screaming with glee and applauding like crazy for her, while next to them Ginger, Holly, and Katie were inching away a little bit, perhaps a bit embarrassed to be associated with them. Lucy waved to her cheering section before exiting the stage.

"An act only a mother would be proud of," Elizabeth remarked.

Lucy ignored her, and seemed to do the same to Adyson as well. But Lucy did manage to say to her as she went by, in a low enough voice that Elizabeth could not hear from where she was standing, four words of encouragement.

"You can beat her."

Upon hearing that, Adyson turned to thank her. But Lucy had sprinted off so fast that she was already out of earshot.

"Next up is entrant number 36! Elizabeth Griffiths-Hollingberry of Troop 28933, singing _America the Beautiful_."

Elizabeth started patting herself down in front of Adyson, and it made the latter girl feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"Just wanted to prove this isn't like my troop did last year! No sparklers, no visual aids, nothing hidden on me! I'm winning this fair and square!"

With that, Elizabeth ascended the stairs onto the stage.

"And here I thought I had seen everything," Adyson said aloud, disturbed by that act.

Elizabeth went up to the microphone stand and searched the crowd for her troop, which helped her out by getting up from their seats on the lawn and standing up and waving at her.

"This is dedicated to my girls, as well as redemption for my troop after what happened last year on this stage!"

She then pointed at the DJ, who began playing the song. After the musical introduction, Elizabeth began singing, on-key and nearly pitch perfect.

"_O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain…_"

Off to the side, Adyson took a couple deep breaths. Suddenly, she saw Gretchen and Milly running towards her. She made her way over to the far end of the roped area to meet them. Adyson, in full panic mode, started asking a multitude of questions.

"Where have you been? Where's Isabella? Why is she doing this to me? What am I gonna sing, 'cause Elizabeth's singing my choice and doing a bang-up job, let me tell you… and, again, **WHERE'S ISABELLA?**"

Gretchen and Milly looked at each other, then back at Adyson before Gretchen sheepishly started rubbing the back of her head as she replied to the last, but most important question…

Back on the stage, though, Elizabeth was wrapping up…

"_And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea._"

Upon finishing, she got a long round of applause from the crowd. It slowly turned into a standing ovation, starting with Elizabeth's troop and making it around to the rest of the crowd. Even the members of Troop 46231 could not help but be impressed by Elizabeth's performance, as they joined in as well. Elizabeth took a minute to soak it all in before the emcee finally walked up to shoo her off the stage. There was still one last participant in the talent show to go, after all.

Or would there be? As Elizabeth exited stage left, she saw Adyson, with her head lowered, walk up to the judges' table.

"I guess she took my advice and she's withdrawing," Elizabeth said to herself. "Again, not that I blame her, but who could go on after my brilliant, redeeming performance?"

"I can."

Elizabeth gasped as she reached the stairs, seeing someone waiting for her at the bottom that she thought she would never see here at the Jam.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

The emcee approached the microphone.

"Apologies for the delay, but we had a last-minute substitution for our final entrant! This is number 37, singing an original song, from Troop 46231, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro!"

Upon hearing Isabella's name, Holly stopped lowering her head and felt Ginger grab her at the shoulders and shake her with joy and relief. The two were joined by the others as they watched Isabella take the stage. The DJ had been given the CD which had the music for her song, and he started playing it.

Isabella started singing immediately.

_I woke up late, I tempted fate_  
_I ended up at the wrong airport!_  
_I flew outta there, I got in the air_  
_But time was running so, so short!_  
_The big storm hit, I threw a fit_  
_And I had nowhere that I could go-go-go!_  
_It felt like the end, I really needed a friend_  
_And there are six I'm glad I know!_

_Friends are what get you through the darkest days!_  
_They pick you up,_  
_They put you down,_  
_But they're always there when you need them._  
_Friends will help you through your darkest days!  
Through thick and thin,  
Over hill and dale,  
They'll be waiting for you at the end._

"Is she telling the story about what happened to her?" Adyson asked Ginger.

"Yeah!" replied Ginger. "She should write a giant entry for the blog about this!"

_I wouldn't pout, 'cause I found an out  
I borrowed a sturdy hot air balloon!  
I flew outta there, was back in the air  
Thought I was safe, but I spoke too soon!__  
That storm again, oh what a pain  
Would this be the end of my tale-tale-tale?  
__It felt like the end, I really needed a friend_  
_Good that I have six I can name, no fail!_

_Friends are what get you through the darkest days!_  
_They pick you up,_  
_They put you down,_  
_But they're always there when you need them._  
_Friends will help you through your darkest days!  
Through thick and thin,  
Over hill and dale,  
They'll be waiting for you at the end.  
_

_Woke up in the middle of nowhere  
Thanked those who saved me and told them to 'take care'  
Only way out was to ride the train  
Had no money left to get back on a plane!  
It broke down just 20 miles away  
Enough's enough, I'm getting to DC today!  
_

_Don't speak French; I have a wrench  
Let me help get this thing back on track!  
That was a cinch, fixed it in a pinch  
Hear that train go clack-click-clack!  
The journey's done, hello Washington  
I've got six friends to meet up with downtown!  
I may be late, I tested fate  
But I wouldn't let my good friends down!  
_

___Friends are what get you through the darkest days!_  
_They pick you up,_  
_They put you down,_  
_But they're always there when you need them._  
_Friends will help you through your darkest days!  
Through thick and thin,  
Over hill and dale,  
They'll be waiting for you at the end._

_______They'll be waiting for you at the end._

The second the music ended, the crowd erupted with cheers and applause. Isabella stood there for a minute, breathing heavily as her performance had left her a little short of breath. Finally, she made her way off the stage, finding the girls waiting for her. They greeted her with a massive hug, all at once.

"That was amazing!"

"We missed you!"

"Did that all really happen?"

"You were great!"

The group finally let go of Isabella so she could speak.

"Thanks, girls! I missed you all too!"

Adyson then got in front of Isabella. She, to Isabella's surprise, was not happy.

"I'm glad you saved my tail out there. Now, if you ever, ever, **EVER** leave me in charge again…"

Isabella smirked. "I see you missed me most of all."

The two shared a long, tight hug.

"How are you going to handle the pressures of being class president when school starts in a few weeks?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

* * *

It took 15 minutes for the judges to tabulate the scores, as well as a few more minutes for the emcee to announce the top ten. Elizabeth and Isabella were among those on the side of the stage, waiting to see if their name was going to be called. Elizabeth was the first to hear hers, but it was not exactly where she wanted it.

"Fourth place?" Elizabeth grumbled as she came off the stage with her fourth-place certificate. "Philistines!"

Elizabeth sulked off to the side as the third- and second-place awards were given out. Isabella was still standing there empty-handed as the emcee was ready to announce who the winner was.

"With a score of 29.8, the winner of the Talent Show event is… Isabella Garcia-Shapiro of Troop 46231!"

Isabella jumped for joy and then ran on stage to get her first-place trophy. Elizabeth stomped her foot in disgust and then walked away, insulted by the result. On stage, the emcee handed Isabella the trophy, and upon receiving it, she proudly raised it above her head for everyone to see. She got a heavy round of cheers and applause from the crowd, especially from her own troop, as well as Lucy and the girls of Troop 10264. But winning the Talent Show event was not the reason why she was happy to finally make it to the Jam.

She was happy because she was reunited with her friends.

* * *

The sun began to set, but the Talent Show event was not the last competition of the day. Isabella joined her girls as they tried to have some fun as well as try to get back into the Troop of the Year competition. They continued working at it the next morning, in the final few events on Sunday.

But eventually, the Jam had to end, and a Troop of the Year had to be named. Isabella and the girls were in the audience gathered near the Washington Memorial as Eliza M. Feyerseid took the stage to make the announcement.

"And this year's Troop of the Year is… Troop 17090! Let's give 'em a round of applause!"

The girls that represented the winning troop gathered up on stage and celebrated, while their fellow Fireside Girls gave them a standing ovation. Isabella and the others were genuinely happy for Troop 17090 even though they had come to Washington hoping they would be the ones celebrating.

"Good for them," Isabella said. "They earned it."

"Chief," Gretchen asked, "do you think if you had been here for the whole Jam that we would be the ones on the stage right now?"

"Not sure. Even though I've only been here a day, it didn't take long for me to discover that the competition was much, much tougher this year than last. If we really wanna make a run at it next year, we're going to have to step it up."

"As long as you're leading us," Adyson said, "we'll do whatever we need to."

The girls were already looking forward to next year's Jam, but the members of Troop 28933 were not. Their heads were hanging low in shame as they walked passed Isabella's troop, all except for Elizabeth, who was not pleased with their performance and was letting them not about it.

"I can't believe we didn't even place! All of that work for nothing! You girls should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Isabella stepped in to interject.

"Elizabeth, they're your friends! You shouldn't be treating them like that!"

"Who are you to tell me how to run my troop, Isabella? You think you have that authority because your troop placed and mine didn't?"

"That has nothing to do with it!"

"Whatever! We were supposed to show your troop up **AND** win Troop of the Year, but since we failed miserably at both, it's time to treat them in a way equivalent to how much effort they gave this weekend! Not enough!"

"But you can't do that! They'll end up hating you, all because you're more consumed with winning than having friends! Then when next year's Jam comes around, what'll happen when you have no one to help you out?"

"Well, for one," someone cut in, "you might end up like me."

The two leaders turned around and were surprised when they saw a 13-year old blonde standing behind them. One who looked familiar to them, but whose name they could not place.

"Do we know you?" Isabella asked.

She pointed at Isabella's beret, signaling that she wanted to borrow it. Isabella obliged. Once the teenager put on the beret, she suddenly became instantly recognizable to Elizabeth, Isabella, and the entirety of Troop 46231.

"**SARAH ANDERSON!**" all eight of them yelled.

"What are **YOU** doing here?" growled Elizabeth.

"We thought you were banned from the Fireside Girls," Isabella said aloud.

"True, but as a participant. I can still come as a spectator."

Elizabeth turned away from Sarah, crossing her arms over her chest. But her former superior was not going to give up that easily.

"I hear you resent me after all the work you had to do to restore the troop after it was gutted thanks to us, er, me cheating. Oh, speaking of, Isabella… no grudge for busting us."

"You're welcome! I think."

"The way I ran the troop, the only thing that mattered to me was to win Troop of the Year at all costs. Even if it meant using sparklers when they were against the rules. Not only did I get kicked out of the troop, I lost the trust of most my friends, both within and outside the Fireside Girls. I'd do anything to take back what I did last year. But I know no matter how much I ask for forgiveness, I'd never be allowed to rejoin the organization. And even if given the chance, I don't deserve it. I treated my troop horribly, and for that I'm sorry."

Sarah then put her arm around Elizabeth.

"Look, I don't want you to go down the same road. You're a great leader! I mean, you proved that just by saving the troop from extinction and rounding them into the talented group of girls that arrived here two days ago with a fairly good shot at redeeming our troop's honor and winning Troop of the Year. Fairly! I don't see why you're being so hard on them. Without them, there would be no troop! They are as much responsible for you all being here as you are. Together, you all saved the troop and restored its good name. You may not have won Troop of the Year, but you are still equally responsible for the end result. Just because you've hit the big time doesn't mean that you get to act like some big shot. They may not be happy with what happened here, but they're not taking it out on you or each other!"

"Winning Troop of the Year isn't the main reason we come to the Jamboree ever year," Isabella said, putting in her two cents. "It's because you get to go to another part of the country and spend three great, fun-filled days with the girls you love! The girls and I are always friends first, Fireside Girls second. And that's why we get along so well! Elizabeth, you have to realize that you and your troop will never be among the best unless you respect one another."

"It's not just one leader and the rest of the troop," added Adyson. "You look out for them, and they'll look out for you."

"That's what friends do!" exclaimed Gretchen.

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "All this time, I only cared about redeeming the troop, no matter what it took. But I failed to realize that doing what it took didn't mean pushing for nothing but total victory and not being willing to accept anything less. I should've realized that all I needed to do was to be a comforting hand, to support my girls both in glorious victory and in sorrowful defeat."

She walked over to her troop.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I have, especially these last few days. Can you ever forgive me, girls?"

The girls answered by gathering around Elizabeth and giving her a big group hug.

"You're a great leader, Elizabeth," Sarah said. "There's still a few things you have to learn, but I'm glad you took over as leader of the troop."

"Thanks, Sarah! That means a lot coming from you!"

"Y'know," Isabella cut in, "our troops are based less than an hour apart. Maybe some time our two troops can get together and do something friendly together."

"I'd like that."

* * *

Isabella and the girls waved farewell as the van carrying Elizabeth's troop pulled away from the curb and began the trek to the airport for the trip back home. They also left Sarah, who wanted to see if she could catch up with some other Fireside Girls that she used to know.

"Well," Isabella said to the group, "we didn't defend our title, but I still think this Jam made us closer than ever!"

"I couldn't agree more!" exclaimed Holly, who had gotten her voice back earlier that morning.

"And extending our streak to three years in the Top 20 ain't bad either," said Adyson, as she gazed upon their small seven-inch team trophy. "After this wild weekend, we'll take it."

"So, girls, we've got a few hours before we have to get to the airport for our flight home. What do you all wanna do?"

Suddenly, Adyson's cell phone rang.

"Oh, for crying out loud…"

She pulled it out, but this time, she actually recognized the number.

"How did Candace get my number?"

She decided to answer it.

"Hello?"

The girls crowded around her to see what was up. A few seconds later, Adyson pulled it away from her ear and held it out towards Isabella.

"It's Phineas," she said, smirking. "He wants to talk to you."

"Ooh!" cooed the others.

Isabella took it and walked a few steps away to get some privacy.

"Hi, Phineas!"

"Hi, Isabella! Is the Jamboree over? Long story short, our trip's making a short stop in DC and I've got an hour or two of free time. Wanna hang out?"

"**REALLY?** But… what about Ferb?"

"Oh, he's got other plans. It'll just be you and me."

Isabella was overjoyed. This was the moment she had been waiting for. But…

"I would love to, Phineas, but I'm going to have to take a raincheck!"

She looked over her shoulder at the girls.

"The girls and I still need a little more time to bond."

"Oh."

"Sorry. Next time?"

"Yeah. Oh, wait!"

"Yes?"

"The last time we talked, you said you had something really important to tell me!"

"Oh, don't worry. It worked itself out."

"Well, okay then."

With that, Isabella hung up.

* * *

Phineas lowered the phone from his ear, surprised at what had just happened as he turned towards his stepbrother to tell him.

"Wow. I finally want to spend some time with Isabella, and she says no."

Ferb thought for a second before responding.

"I guess when girls want to have a weekend to themselves, you let them."

* * *

"You're done talking already?" questioned Adyson as Isabella gave her friend her phone back.

"Yeah. I'll have plenty of time to talk to Phineas once we get back home. But for now, we've got some bonding to do."

Isabella tapped Adyson on the shoulder with her hand.

"**TAG!** You're it!"

Everyone else scattered, while Adyson stood there. First looking dumbfounded and then angry.

"Isabella! Are you, like, six?"

Isabella had only taken a few steps, but stopped upon hearing Adyson's voice.

"So, I guess that's code for 'You're too slow to catch me?'"

"Okay, Izzy! You asked for it!"

Adyson put the trophy in her bag and then took off after Isabella.

"You gotta catch me first!" giggled Isabella as she started running again.

And with that, the girls spent the rest of the day playing tag. After all, above everything else, they were having fun together.

And that was all they ever wanted from this trip.

**The End**

**Author's Notes:**  
And that's feature number four of the _Fireside Diaries_ in the books!

I'm glad I did this, because I seem to pick up new readers every time I do one of these things. If you're new to the series, welcome aboard! Hopefully you'll check out the other three features - the mega-hit _Phineas is Mine!_, the Valentine's-themed one-shot _My Salty Sweetwater_, and the political-themed _I'm Your Next Class President!_ - as well as the first two seasons of the _Fireside Diaries_.

If you're already caught up, then you've got a few months to wait before season three begins at the end of this year! I've got 15 great episodes lined up for you, starting with a two-part holiday special this December! Look for promotional material to start coming out towards the latter end of the fall.

That being said, I hope you enjoyed Jamboree Jambalaya, and please feel free to leave your thoughts in a review! I'd really appreciate it!


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